Warrior Nation, meet Jacqueline Carrizosa aka BroJaq!
Jacqueline is an all-around badass, from her time in the Navy as a rescue swimmer, her motocross ventures, or being a stunt double for Hollywood A-Listers.
BroJaq is currently battling back after she was hit by a truck while riding a motorcycle. She details her comeback, her Navy experiences, her favorite movie set memories, and more in our interview with her!
KC: How did you come about your decision to join the Navy? How much of swimming background do you have?
JC: I joined the Navy because I needed to leave Las Vegas. I joined because I wanted to do something more with myself. I was on the swim and dive team in high school, but the majority of my sports background was in soccer.
KC: What would go through your mind during a rescue swim? If things were really rough, were you ever worried about your own life? Or were you just focused on saving the person in danger?
JC: I was always more worried about being a minute too late. I trained three times a day to make sure I was always in tip-top shape to not be a minute late. I never wanted it to be my fault if they didn’t make it.
KC: How did you get into motocross?
JC: I was looking for something that challenged me like rescue swimming did. I did a triathlon, bodybuilding, and adult recreation soccer, but those weren’t mentally and physically challenging put together. I rode a street bike, but dirt bikes were recommended to me by a friend. I did my first race in Las Vegas in an off-road championship series. It was ridiculously challenging, and I loved every moment of it.
KC: How much of your accident do you remember? What was your recovery like?
JC: It was actually just the two-year anniversary of my accident. I almost had to get a kidney transplant because I almost lost two kidneys. My face and teeth were all messed up. I was training for the race I just did. I was on a 30-mile ride when a truck hit me from behind. I was in the hospital for four and a half weeks. I was in a back brace for six to seven months.
I’m still going to physical therapy. The craziest thing to deal with was my traumatic brain injury (TBI). Right after my accident, I don’t think my TBI was properly evaluated due to the severity of my other injuries. It’s been the most residual annoying thing I had to learn how to recover from. We’ve recently got an MRI to pinpoint how to recover from it, so it should get better.
KC: Any of your Instagram followers know that you have a passion for firearms. What would you say is more therapeutic for you? Riding on your bike or shooting your guns?
JC: I like being outside a lot. If I could ride my bike and get paid to do that. I get more from riding my bike. There are fewer safety rules. I don’t have to wear as much protection, and I can fly. I can show-off more riding my bike [laughs].
KC: You've worked on some Hollywood sets because of your military and firearm expertise. What’s your best experience on a set?
JC: One of the coolest parts was that Rihanna couldn’t play soccer. They had me dress up as her stunt double. I already had all of my tattoos, so they gave her tattoos to look like me. Playing her while she was kind of pretending to be me was pretty fun.
KC: What kind of training do you do for motocross?
JC: For my endurance training, I do high-intensive long cardio sessions. I’ve been staying off my road bike this year for obvious reasons. To replace that, I’ve been in the gym doing an hour on the bike. I do strength training for my legs and inner thighs. I do counterbalance workouts for my hamstrings. Lunges, weighted lunges, deadlifts, stuff like that. I do lots of upper body stuff as well which has been helping my spinal injury and re-stabilizing my core.
KC: What does Kill the Quit mean to you?
JC: It’s the motto that I actually live by. I try to never quit, whether that’s in a sport or helping people in general. If I’m working with someone and teaching them how to do something for the first time, I try to relay and communicate it to them so they can complete the task. I won’t let them quit either. I train to finish, and I want to do well. Killing the quit is great because I’m seizing the moment.
