Former U.S. marine loses leg, becomes underwear model

A 24-year-old former U.S. marine, Alex Minsky, who nearly lost his life in a near fatal accident in Afghanistan, is now modelling underwear.

Count your lucky stars, ladies.

Minsky currently has a large social media presence on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube due to his inspirational story.

On June 1, 2009 he nearly died after a road side bomb in Afghanistan took his leg and left him in a coma. After he awoke and went through rehabilitation, he experienced a deep depression that was exacerbated by alcoholism and his 19-year-old brother's passing.

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"I came out of my coma and I was using alcohol as a tool to cope -- to cope with the trauma that was going on in my own head and in my own life," Minsky tells Huffington Post.

He got sober after a brush with the law that forced him into it.

"I was sober for 50 days when the fog had lifted enough -- and it's not completely lifted, it's a process," he says.

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Then one fateful day while working out at the gym, Minsky was scouted by photographer Tom Cullis who did a test shoot with him. That shoot led to underwear modelling work with Michael Stokes.

It's an uplifting story because of what could have become of his life, yet he turned that around.

"Just because I don't have a leg doesn't mean it's going to slow me down," Minsky tells NBC. "I want people to look at me and not give up. Not quit."