Spokane nurse Hannah Cvancara has been challenging a U.S. military policy that forbids amputees, such as her, from serving in some capacities. SPR’s Eliza Billingham was interested in hearing more of Cvancara’s story, so she invited her into the studio.
This interview lightly edited for clarity and length.
Hannah Cvancara: I’ve been wanting to serve in the military as a flight nurse for four years now and I started that process back in 2021, but it’s been complicated to try to join because I’m missing a leg below the knee. It’s from a congenital birth defect called fibular hemimelia, so I had a lot of surgeries as a kid, and even though I pass all the fitness tests required to join and am extremely active, the military had a disqualification for civilian amputees trying to join. So I fought back on that, and I went to my congresswoman after being denied accession into service, and we started a bill in Congress together to try to change those standards for amputees trying to join if they can pass all the fitness tests required…