Roxbury Soldier Competes for Magazine Cover Model

ROXBURY, CT — A Roxbury soldier and Olympic athlete is reaching out to the community to notch one more feather in her cap: magazine cover model.

First Lieutenant Megan Henry, 31, will hit her 10-year anniversary in the US Army in June. She's been stationed in New York, Colorado, and with her current reserve unit EUCOM (European Command) in Fort Devens, MA. But it's not likely the over 10,200 followers she has on Instagram are there for her armed forces achievements.

Henry races competitively atop a skeleton. That's the bobsled's spunky and edgier younger sister, centerpiece of a winter sliding sport in which athletes rocket head first and face down at 80 m.p.h. in a skin tight suit upon a stripped down sleigh, or "skeleton." The sleighs can achieve velocities of up to 80 mph, and accelerations of 5 g's, which is crazy.

The LT is a Team USA Skeleton athlete, 2-time US Army World Class athlete, 5-time USA Skeleton National Team member, 2-time World Championships Team member, 2012 National Champion, and 2-time National Push Champion.

Henry's greatest achievement, however, is that she beat a pulmonary embolism.

"I nearly lost my life to blood clots prior to the 2014 Olympics and have been fighting my way back ever since," she told Patch. "I just competed at the 2019 World Championships and finished in the top 20 in the world, top three in the USA."

It's a great story, and she has already shared it on NBC, Anderson Cooper 360, and in Vanity Fair. What she wants now, is to be on the cover of Jetset Magazine as "Miss Jetset 2019." It would make her the first female military member and athlete to make that grade, she says. (And the first model from Roxbury, we're pretty sure.)

More importantly, it all goes to a great cause. The voting supports the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation for childhood cancer. Supporters may vote for free once every 24 hours or make an additional contribution to the charity to vote more frequently.

UPDATE: Henry has advanced to the semi-finals, but is in "now or never" mode with just a day and a half left of voting. You can vote for her here.