Despite losing sight in both eyes to a sniper’s bullet a year ago today in Iraq, former Navy SEAL Ryan Job isn’t into self-pity. Nor does he expect sympathy from others.

“This is just something that happened to me,” Job said. “I can’t change it. What are you going to do, stop living? It just made me take a different approach. I had goals and plans that had to change.”

A single bullet took Job’s right eye, damaged his optic nerve and wiped out his dream of becoming a commercial pilot. But it didn’t damage his mind, attitude, drive and spirit.

In June, Job, 26, and his wife of four months, Kelly, 27, relocated to Scottsdale from San Diego as part of the national nonprofit Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation. The California-based group’s mission is to provide life-changing opportunities for military men and women who have suffered severe injuries and need community support.

The Jobs received four-year scholarships from the fouryear-old group and a rent-free, furnished condominium in Scottsdale for the same time period. The condo is an investment property donated by Howard Lein, owner of Re/Max Excalibur Realty in Scottsdale.

Lein is a volunteer with the group’s Scottsdale branch and has become Ryan’s mentor. The group helps members of the service with scholarships, mortgage payments, physical rehabilitation and other planning beyond what the federal government provides.

Job is one of nine wounded service members the group has given rent-free places to live and other benefits through donations from civic leaders. Job is the group’s first recipient in Arizona.

“We’re trying to help him so he can select the right career,” Lein said. “Hopefully, with the cooperation of corporate America, he can do that. He can get just so much from the VA (Department of Veterans Affairs). He’s extremely motivated and dedicated, willing to adapt to a new life and environment.”

Lein said the group also will help with Ryan’s continuing medical expenses, including upcoming facial plastic surgery.

Job recalls waking up at the U.S. Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., unable to see. He said drugs kept him from remembering much at first. The right eye was gone, but there was a chance the left would be OK.

Doctors later determined that damage to the left eye’s optic nerve was too severe. After a couple weeks, an ophthalmologist broke the news to him.

“It’s so crushing, you don’t even know what you’re thinking,” Job said. “I started thinking what I was going to miss out on. I will never see my kids. I will never see my wife’s face again. I’ll never drive. It’s about the lowest low you can go. It wasn’t a huge surprise, but it’s still devastating to hear. It’s forever.”

Kelly Job said the man she has known for about two years is the same inside. She said he has always been self-motivated and ready to face any challenge.

“He won’t be able to do some of the things he wanted to do, but he’s going to be the best blind person there is,” Kelly said. “I don’t think a lot has changed. We weren’t married when this happened. His injury made no difference. When my mother called to tell me what happened, the first thing from me was: ‘But he wanted to be a pilot.’ That was all I could focus on.”

The Jobs are surprised with the number of people who have stepped forward to help them. They’re especially grateful to Sentinels of Freedom and Lein. The couple learned about the group while Job was rehabilitating in Tampa, Fla. Both consider themselves blessed.

“This group sounded too good to be true,” Job said. “After talking with (founder) Mike Conklin more and more, I developed a trust with him. They were committed to helping us. It’s not just a group of some Marine moms in Nebraska organizing to have school kids write letters to injured military. They are helping us toward a future.”

Job, formerly an aeronautical engineer, said that future includes taking Internet courses in business from Jones International University in Centennial, Colo. He’s learning a computer screen-reader program.

“I’m not going to live the rest of my life because of what I’ve done or what happened to me,” said Job, discharged from the Navy with the rank of special operator second class. “I’m not going to be a washed-up SEAL. I’m going to say what I’m accomplishing, not back when I was young and healthy.”

The Jobs said they are enjoying Scottsdale, and staying depends on finding work. Job, who said he has no regrets about his choice to join the SEALs, praises the work of Sentinels of Freedom. According to Lein, the group invests $50,000 to $100,000 on each military member it helps.

“We’ve gotten several donors and a number of servicemen and women who have applied for our help,” Lein said. “We’re trying to step up the awareness of our group. We’re helping Ryan, and we want to help other individuals like him.”

To learn more

• To watch an interview with Ryan and Kelly Job, visit http://remaxsat.edgeboss.net/wmedia/remaxsat/sentinels/sof_scottsdale_vnr.asx.

• To learn more about Sentinels of Freedom, visit www.sentinelsoffreedom.org.