By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
When DEA Agent Joseph Piersante was shot in the head in Afghanistan in 2011, he lost his eyesight but not his mission to combat drugs.
At the time, Piersante was serving on the Foreign-deployed Advisory Support Team (FAST), a commando-style squad that battled drug cartels and smugglers.
“I had a frontal lobe brain injury because the bullet went to the front of my brain,” he told WDIV in Detroit. “I had two ruptured eye globes and two detached retinas, in which resulted in the brain injury, resulting in the craniotomy.”
Piersante, who became the first-ever member of the DEA to receive the Secretary of Defense Medal for the Defense of Freedom, didn’t let the injury stop him from fighting drugs.
“In life we can’t always determine what happens to us, but what we can do is we can make the best out of our situation as we can,” Piersante said.
Unable to do his past job, Piersante began educating people about the dangers of drugs and helping addicts with treatment strategies.
After more than 20 years with the DEA, Piersante is retiring this week.
In retirement, he hopes to write a screenplay or book.
