In new book, Air Force Veteran champions blind hockey

By Allison Stevens | January 02, 2026

Craig Fitzpatrick began to lose his sight while serving in the military—but he never lost his vision of service. After receiving an honorable discharge from the US Air Force, Fitzpatrick went on to become a tech entrepreneur, a pioneer in the emerging sport of blind hockey and a leading advocate for people with disabilities.

Next up on his list of accomplishments: author.

In January, Fitzpatrick is releasing Finding the Puck: Leadership Lessons from My Journey Through Blind Hockey, a memoir about how he overcame disability, depression and self-doubt and found new purpose in an unlikely place: the hockey rink. 

Overcoming loss is nothing new to Fitzpatrick. At 10, his father, a retired Navy medic, died of a heart attack. The eldest of 4 in a family headed by a single mom, Fitzpatrick understood at a young age that he would need to work hard and excel in school if he hoped to achieve his dream of going to college and launching a career in aviation. That he did, securing a coveted spot at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. 

After graduation, Fitzpatrick served as an aircraft maintenance officer, commanding a unit that launched aircraft. But his professional dreams soon began to fade. At 24, Fitzpatrick was deployed in response to the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, a Navy destroyer then docked off the coast of Yemen. During that deployment, his vision began to decline—quickly and inexplicably. By 25, he was diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease, a rare form of macular degeneration. “I was still learning how to be an adult,” he says. “Suddenly, I had to relearn everything—how to tie my shoes, cook, shave, even how to walk down the street.” 

The following year, he was honorably discharged, facing a frightening future in a civilian world he could no longer fully see. As he transitioned out of the military, he summoned the grit he had drawn on earlier in life and embarked on a new career in technology, eventually launching his own government contracting business. 

Now chief innovation officer at Akira Technologies, Fitzpatrick explores solutions to challenges involving artificial intelligence (AI), data engineering, cybersecurity and complex simulations. On the side, he serves as a senior fellow at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, where he uses AI to disrupt wildlife traffickers, money launderers and other illicit networks—giving, as he likes to say, “bad people a bad day.” 

The toll of vision loss

While his professional life flourished, Fitzpatrick wrestled with the personal toll of vision loss. Before age 40, he had lost 95 percent of his vision, was diagnosed with depression and was prescribed antidepressants. “I had to have an honest talk with myself about what was missing from my life that a pill couldn’t fix,” he says in a video tribute.

He found it at the rink. 

A fan of professional hockey but a newbie to the sport, Fitzpatrick signed up for skating lessons on a whim—but didn’t tell the instructor he was legally blind. He fell, a lot, suffering bruises up and down his body.  But he got back up—and kept at it. When his instructor asked why he kept bumping into things, he confessed that he was blind. Instead of brushing him off, the instructor encouraged him to persist, and, eventually, Fitzpatrick mastered the skill. “I felt like I was getting little pieces of my life back,” he recalls. 

A year and a half later, he discovered blind hockey, which is played with a large, hollow puck filled with ball bearings that clank and jingle as the puck moves across the ice. He admits that the full-contact sport, played at fast speeds and on sharp blades, may be a “strange pastime” for blind people. But it nonetheless became his “salvation,” the reason he got up in the morning. “In many ways,” he says, “it gave me back my life.”

Fitzpatrick is not alone. Despite its reputation as one of the most dangerous sports, hockey has drawn countless blind participants, and the sport of blind hockey is growing fast. The NHL, a strong supporter, is the only professional sport with a blind league. 

Fitzpatrick has contributed much to the sport’s rise. In 2016, he co-founded the Washington Wheelers—now the Washington Blind Hockey Club—and in 2018, he played internationally as a member of the US Blind Hockey Team. Over the years, he has taught over 300 blind people to play at a competitive level and helped launch a “Try Blind Hockey” program that partners with NHL teams and introduces the sport to new audiences.

A blind hockey evangelist

In November, Fitzpatrick was spotlighted in a video tribute during the NHL Veterans Appreciation Night broadcast, which featured a doubleheader between the Anaheim Ducks and the Colorado Avalanche and the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Presented by Navy Federal Credit Union, the event highlighted the stories of Veterans involved in hockey and was part of the league's broader Veterans Day celebrations.

Because of that support, dozens of blind people were able to experience the joy of hockey for the first time, said Fitzpatrick. “For a blind person, nothing compares to getting to see that first NHL game: the smell of the ice surface, the banging against the plexiglass, the sound of a well-placed slap shot.”

The opportunity also prompted Fitzpatrick to host "Try Blind Hockey" sessions in partnership with the Colorado Center for the Blind near Denver with the Colorado School for the Blind in Colorado Springs. Thanks to these events, more than 40 blind children and adults got the chance to step out onto the ice for the first time.

For Fitzpatrick, the gestures were more than perks; they’re proof that organizations can change lives. “I approach this with a lot of gratitude,” he says. “Hockey has done so much for me. I owe it a debt. And Navy Federal is helping me pay it forward.”

Now a published author, Fitzpatrick’s next goal is clear: making blind hockey a Paralympic sport within the next decade, a cause he is supporting with his memoir’s proceeds. “As Veterans, we had the chance to serve and want to continue to be of service,” he says. “I feel like I owe hockey a life debt. … We’re building momentum. And with partners like Navy Federal, we’re going to get there.”

Learn more about Navy Federal supports for members of the military community.