Team Never Quit Aaron Hale: EOD Tech Blinded and Deafened by an IED - Now an Ultra Athlete & Entrepreneur
Jul 2, 2025
55:25
No Sight, No Sound, No Surrender: The Aaron Hale Story
This week’s Team Never Quit episode features the incredible Aaron Hale—a man who has stared down adversity, twice over, and answered with resilience, grit, and chocolate. A 14-year military veteran of both the Navy and Army, Aaron was serving his second deployment in Afghanistan as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team Leader when an IED explosion took his sight and altered the course of his life. But Aaron didn’t stop moving forward—he started climbing.
Aaron shares how he turned tragedy into testimony, going from the battlefield to building a life filled with purpose. From teaching at the EOD school post-injury to completing the Boston Marathon and climbing mountains, Aaron’s journey is one of extreme perseverance. In 2015, another blow—bacterial meningitis—left him completely deaf, but with cochlear implants, the support of his incredible wife McKayla, and a “Challenge Accepted” mindset, Aaron continues to thrive.
We also dive into Aaron and McKayla’s passion project turned thriving business—Extra Ordinary Delights, an artisan chocolate and fudge company born out of love, grit, and a relentless pursuit of joy.
Aaron Hale doesn’t just inspire—he challenges all of us to rise, to reinvent, and to find joy even in the most unexpected places. From bombs to bonbons, his life is a powerful reminder that adversity is not the end of the story—it’s the beginning of a better one.
In This Episode You Will Hear:
• I became one of the personal chefs for the 3-star Admiral, commander to the 6th fleet (1:10)
• I wanted to be in a tight knit brotherhood. I wanted a technically challenging career field. (14:40)
• Being that evidence collector guy that I wanted to be, I made my approach with a metal detector. 20 yards or so from the primary device was a secondary device that hadn’t been found yet. It vaulted me into the air. I reached up to fix my helmet and it was gone. And I thought “Oh, no - this is bad”. At Walter Reed, I was told I’d be blind for the rest of my life. (28:05)
• Total blindness comes with a bonus gift of sleep disorder. You can’t rest you circadian rhythm. (30:50)
• I had those demons in my head asking the What if’s; the Why me’s. (31:37)
• I don’t have a monopoly on pain. (33:36)
• I don’t have any good answers, any good reasons to quit (33:43)
• Instead of “Why me? or “I can’t” I just try to figure out how I can. (34:00)
• For about 6 months, I learned how to be blind. (36:03)
• I’m having an awesome time. (38:59)
• I contracted Bacterial Meningitis. That came closer to killing me than the bomb had. (39:20)
• That’s when I felt bad - when I was just thinking about myself (42:37)
• I might as well keep working hard to do hard things. (46:08)
• For ten years I’ve been running marathons and ultra marathons (46:30)
• Everything in my life is a team sport (49:49)
• You can look at it as “I have to” or “I get to” (50:16)
• Maybe one day, the story of your struggle might be the blueprint for someone else’s survival (52:35)
Support Aaron
- https://pointofimpactpod.com/
- Link tree: https://linktr.ee/aaronhalepointofimpact
Fb: https://www.facebook.com/aclayhale
IG: https://www.instagram.com/aclayhale/
Support TNQ
- IG: team_neverquit , marcusluttrell , melanieluttrell , huntero13
- https://www.patreon.com/teamneverquit
Sponsors:
- cargurus.com/TNQ
- armslist.com/TNQ
- partnersinbuilding.com
- Navyfederal.org
- - You can find Cremo's new line of antiperspirants and deodorants at Target or Target.com
- WARFARE IN THEATERS APRIL 11th
Watch Trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JER0Fkyy3tw
First Look Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3DWuqiAUKg&t=3s
- - PXGapparel.com/TNQ
- bruntworkwear.com/TNQ
- Selectquote.com/TNQ
- Groundnews.com/TNQ
- You can find Cremo's new line of antiperspirants and deodorants at Target or Target.com
- shipsticks.com/TNQ
- Robinhood.com/gold
- strawberry.me/TNQ
- stopboxusa.com {TNQ}
- ghostbed.com/TNQ [TNQ]
- kalshi.com/TNQ
- joinbilt.com/TNQ
- Tonal.com [TNQ]
- greenlight.com/TNQ
- PDSDebt.com/TNQ
- drinkAG1.com/TNQ
- Shadyrays.com [TNQ]
- qualialife.com/TNQ [TNQ]
- Hims.com/TNQ
- Shopify.com/TNQ
- Aura.com/TNQ
- Policygenius.com
- TAKELEAN.com [TNQ]
- usejoymode.com [TNQ]
This week’s Team Never Quit episode features the incredible Aaron Hale—a man who has stared down adversity, twice over, and answered with resilience, grit, and chocolate. A 14-year military veteran of both the Navy and Army, Aaron was serving his second deployment in Afghanistan as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team Leader when an IED explosion took his sight and altered the course of his life. But Aaron didn’t stop moving forward—he started climbing.
Aaron shares how he turned tragedy into testimony, going from the battlefield to building a life filled with purpose. From teaching at the EOD school post-injury to completing the Boston Marathon and climbing mountains, Aaron’s journey is one of extreme perseverance. In 2015, another blow—bacterial meningitis—left him completely deaf, but with cochlear implants, the support of his incredible wife McKayla, and a “Challenge Accepted” mindset, Aaron continues to thrive.
We also dive into Aaron and McKayla’s passion project turned thriving business—Extra Ordinary Delights, an artisan chocolate and fudge company born out of love, grit, and a relentless pursuit of joy.
Aaron Hale doesn’t just inspire—he challenges all of us to rise, to reinvent, and to find joy even in the most unexpected places. From bombs to bonbons, his life is a powerful reminder that adversity is not the end of the story—it’s the beginning of a better one.
In This Episode You Will Hear:
• I became one of the personal chefs for the 3-star Admiral, commander to the 6th fleet (1:10)
• I wanted to be in a tight knit brotherhood. I wanted a technically challenging career field. (14:40)
• Being that evidence collector guy that I wanted to be, I made my approach with a metal detector. 20 yards or so from the primary device was a secondary device that hadn’t been found yet. It vaulted me into the air. I reached up to fix my helmet and it was gone. And I thought “Oh, no - this is bad”. At Walter Reed, I was told I’d be blind for the rest of my life. (28:05)
• Total blindness comes with a bonus gift of sleep disorder. You can’t rest you circadian rhythm. (30:50)
• I had those demons in my head asking the What if’s; the Why me’s. (31:37)
• I don’t have a monopoly on pain. (33:36)
• I don’t have any good answers, any good reasons to quit (33:43)
• Instead of “Why me? or “I can’t” I just try to figure out how I can. (34:00)
• For about 6 months, I learned how to be blind. (36:03)
• I’m having an awesome time. (38:59)
• I contracted Bacterial Meningitis. That came closer to killing me than the bomb had. (39:20)
• That’s when I felt bad - when I was just thinking about myself (42:37)
• I might as well keep working hard to do hard things. (46:08)
• For ten years I’ve been running marathons and ultra marathons (46:30)
• Everything in my life is a team sport (49:49)
• You can look at it as “I have to” or “I get to” (50:16)
• Maybe one day, the story of your struggle might be the blueprint for someone else’s survival (52:35)
Support Aaron
- https://pointofimpactpod.com/
- Link tree: https://linktr.ee/aaronhalepointofimpact
Fb: https://www.facebook.com/aclayhale
IG: https://www.instagram.com/aclayhale/
Support TNQ
- IG: team_neverquit , marcusluttrell , melanieluttrell , huntero13
- https://www.patreon.com/teamneverquit
Sponsors:
- cargurus.com/TNQ
- armslist.com/TNQ
- partnersinbuilding.com
- Navyfederal.org
- - You can find Cremo's new line of antiperspirants and deodorants at Target or Target.com
- WARFARE IN THEATERS APRIL 11th
Watch Trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JER0Fkyy3tw
First Look Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3DWuqiAUKg&t=3s
- - PXGapparel.com/TNQ
- bruntworkwear.com/TNQ
- Selectquote.com/TNQ
- Groundnews.com/TNQ
- You can find Cremo's new line of antiperspirants and deodorants at Target or Target.com
- shipsticks.com/TNQ
- Robinhood.com/gold
- strawberry.me/TNQ
- stopboxusa.com {TNQ}
- ghostbed.com/TNQ [TNQ]
- kalshi.com/TNQ
- joinbilt.com/TNQ
- Tonal.com [TNQ]
- greenlight.com/TNQ
- PDSDebt.com/TNQ
- drinkAG1.com/TNQ
- Shadyrays.com [TNQ]
- qualialife.com/TNQ [TNQ]
- Hims.com/TNQ
- Shopify.com/TNQ
- Aura.com/TNQ
- Policygenius.com
- TAKELEAN.com [TNQ]
- usejoymode.com [TNQ]