and, you know, that was the highlight of my life. >> reporter: ryan mcintosh always wanted to serve his country. so he enlisted during college and was soon deployed to afghanistan. but one afternoon on patrol changed his life forever. >> i woke up about ten feet in the air, you know, with dust all in the air, and my ears were ringing. >> reporter: just 100 yards from his base. >> i realized that my toes were gone. >> reporter: a land mine had blown off his right leg. do you remember the phone call to your wife after you woke up? >> yeah, that's terrible. that was the worst phone call i ever had to make, i lost my leg. that was hard because i had to be strong for her but at the same time strong for myself to realize those words were really coming out of my mouth. >> reporter: ryan was also a soon to-be father, and the thought of not being there for his son was overwhelming. >> i always had my dad, and that was my biggest anchor point was my dad. when my son was going to grow up, i wanted me to be his biggest anchor point. >> reporter: staying anchored, but wanting to keep moving, ryan fo

that is except for 23-year-old ball boy ryan mcintosh.at's because he's missing a leg. >> i got on the helicopter, immediately went into surgery, and my leg was amputated. from that day forward, my life would be different. >> two years ago, mcintosh was serving in afghanistan with the u.s. army when he stepped on a land mine. >> there was a 40-pound jug of homemade explosives underneath that didn't detonate, and so it kind of just made me realize that, you know, life is very short and, you know, you need to squeeze as much as you can as fast as you can. >> still, he remained athletic. at a competition for wounded military veterans, a coach suggested he try out to be a ball person. >> i heard about three weeks before, and they're, like, well, you made the cut. i was excited and ready to go. >> and while he has an amazing attitude, he does face some big challenges. >> stand tong court in one way, you know, maybe interferes with my leg and causes a rough spot. after every change where i have to adjust my leg and make sure it's not rubbing ra

so ryan mcintosh fell into that mid-20s category. who admitted that online that they were looking for a liaison talking to a teenage boy who had come out as being gay. offered to help him through that process. >> there he is. all right. >> watch tv or something. i'll be right out. all right? >> cool. >> in ft. myers, del would play the role of the male decoy. del is a contributor with perverted justice. she's one of the most senior people there. she has a number of roles. she helps coordinate the investigation. she also acts as a decoy. both on the phone and, if needed, in person. why don't you make yourself at home here? have a seat. what's going on? >> not much. how are you. >> good. how are you? >> good. >> what's going on here? >> hang out. >> how old is he? >> 14. >> how old are you? >> 23. >> why do you think it's appropriate for you as a 23-year-old to come here to hang out with a 14-year-old? >> i was just coming to hang out. >> coming to hang out. you had a pretty lengthy conversation with him. >> several times i did. >> whe

ryan mcintosh from san antonio is a ball boy who lost his leg after stepping on a landmine in afghanistan. he says he hopes to inspire others by being invisible. >> a pricey bingo machine ends up a bus for a group of northern california seniors. a hard lesson they learned about online buying and shipping. >> one day before their convention democrats are struggling to,,,,,,,,,,,, >> a group of northern california seniors is learning a hard lesson about online buying and shipping >> actually wants answers who pays for their damage product online. >> window is a popular pastime. >> i love going to play >> when the seniors here needed and easier to read and go board they spent two and a half years raising more than $1,000 but this is how other new board showed up, crushed in transit, and usable and unable to be fixed >> it leaves you in limbo >> it is something they really worked hard for and it broke my heart >> , works for the senior center and found the board on ebay but says the private seller needs to be paid outside of the auction site which would keep him from paying ebay that cut it r

. >> reporter: 23-year-old ryan mcintosh is an athlete who lives to compete. >> i don't want to be secondt to be first. >> reporter: the former high school star is trying something very different these days-- ball boy at the u.s. open. >> it's going to be a long day. >> reporter: not nearly as long as december 8, 2010. then, as an army specialist in afghanistan, everything changed. >> the next thing i do remember is waking up 10 feet in the air with dust everywhere. i couldn't see anything. >> reporter: macintosh had stepped on a land mine while on patrol near kandahar. his right foot was blown off but he said he was lucky. >> there was a 40-pound jug of homemade explosive underneath the mine i stepped on. it didn't get triggered. >> reporter: had it gone off? >> i wouldn't be here today. >> reporter: his right leg was amputated, yet, just six weeks later, macintosh was walking with the help of a carbon prostetibs. >> knowing my son was about to be born my recovery was based on him coming and me being by his side. >> reporter: macintosh is in the army helping other disabled veterans chasi

ryan mcintosh the guy that was in afghanistan and lost his leg has been talking to us about how he findsy saying you know what? having been through what i've been through fighting in war this is nothing. >> kind of like a ball person. what is that? and so i went to a tryout and at the clinic they were like all right. can you throw a tennis ball? that's when i ed the word, you know, i have thrown a hand grenade so i think i can handle a tennis ball. >> you've got to remain cool under fire when you're a ball girl or ball boy. remember you are very much on display in front of 15,000 fans. you have to run out on to the court and grab the ball. you don't want to run into anyone or trip up and make a fool of yourself so i think he has a lot of experience and that will stand him in very good stead here. he says he'd probably rather people didn't notice his injury and disability but he will also admit he's quite pleased because it really is giving these guys a good profile. >> thanks for leaving us with a smile. lots of them. dave, thank you. we'll be right back. capella university understands b

ryan mcintosh is a ball assistant who happens to be an amputee.tan fighting for the u.s. army. tomorrow morning i will have the full story on how he was able to beat the odds to make it to the open. trust me, folks, you are not going to want to miss this. it is such an incredible story of inspiration. now he is inspiring other soldiers who have had some major catastrophes happen to them. please tune in because it really is remarkable and his dad plays a very important role as well. that's all for us at "early start." for john berman and myself i want zoraida sambolin. "starting point" with soledad o'brien live in charlotte starts right now. >> welcome, everybody. our "starting point" this morning, bill clinton delivers for president obama. >> their number one priority was not to put america back to work. it was to put the president out of work. i hate to break it to you, but we're going ee