Air Force veteran with traumatic brain injury transforms into ’40s pinup model

After Lindsay Gutierrez sustained a traumatic brain injury on duty, she was determined to help other veterans in need.

The U.S. Air Force veteran served six years and became a double organ donor, making her one of 280 people in the U.S. who’ve donated two organs to save lives. She’s now appearing in Pin-Ups For Vets’ 20th annual fundraiser calendar for 2026, which features 13 female veterans from across the country photographed in vintage styles.

“[The calendar] provides a chance for women veterans to showcase not just their outside beauty, but their inner beauty and the amazing accomplishments that they have done,” Gutierrez told Fox News Digital.

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“It was a huge interest to me because of where I’m at in my journey now with being an organ donor, a veteran, a social worker – I felt this was the most opportune time. And I am so thrilled that I was selected to be part of his amazing cohort.”

The award-winning nonprofit, founded in 2006 by California resident Gina Elise, raises money to support hospitalized and deployed troops. It produces World War II-inspired bombshell calendars featuring veterans as models. Elise previously told Fox News Digital she was inspired by Hollywood actress Betty Grable, whose swimsuit snap was distributed to GIs during World War II.

Pin-Ups For Vets has donated over $120,000 to purchase new rehabilitation equipment for veteran hospitals nationwide. Volunteer ambassadors for the organization have also personally visited over 20,000 ill and injured veterans during their 50-state VA hospital tour to deliver gifts of appreciation.

Proceeds from the calendar will support visits to ill and injured veterans, care packages for deployed troops and ongoing donations of rehabilitation equipment to VA hospitals, as well as providing goods to homeless veterans and those transitioning into housing.

Gutierrez, 42, said the platform means more than transforming into a Hollywood bombshell for a day – her goal is to shine a spotlight on the importance of organ donation.

“This means an opportunity to expand my service and be able to give back to the veteran community,” she explained. “As a veteran myself, that’s important. My service never stopped just because I was discharged. It’s an extension of what I’m doing, and it allows me to continue connecting with other veterans.”

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“We’re helping veterans in these hospital settings and different communities – that allows me to share my story and my journey to hopefully connect with somebody who is also on that transplant list and is in need of some care and hope.”

“There are people out there who are willing to save a life,” Gutierrez added.

The Maryland resident originally moved to California in 2009 with big dreams of becoming a special effects makeup artist. Gutierrez admitted to hitting “roadblock after roadblock” and struggling to make ends meet.

“I thought, ‘Well, why not try the military?’” she reasoned.

The idea wasn’t foreign to Gutierrez. Both her grandfathers served.

“By the time I was old enough to understand what the military was like or to even consider it, my maternal grandfather had already passed,” said Gutierrez. “My Papa Ralph was the one who really planted that seed in my mind [when] I was young about the military. But I never once thought that it would be something I could do or would even consider.”

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“My grandfather’s voice was still ringing in my ear and telling me, ‘Just give it a shot,’” she recalled. “And so, I did. I took that leap of faith.”

Gutierrez enlisted in the United States Air Force in 2010. Her grandfather had also served in the Air Force.

“I’m a faith-based person, and I believe that God led me down this path of being able to take a chance on enlisting,” said Gutierrez. 

“I honestly believe that was the reason I was hitting one closing door after another. What I was doing out in California was not what I was supposed to be doing. So God opened up that door for me to be able to join. It was almost like a flawless opportunity… and it happened so fast. I was almost at the cutoff age at that point for joining.”

For six years, Gutierrez served as a security forces member, stationed at RAF Lakenheath in the U.K. She was deployed twice – once to Qatar and then to Djibouti.

In 2014, everything changed for Gutierrez while she was in Djibouti. She described it as like “any other normal deployment.” During the night shift, Gutierrez was in a vehicle when she got an eerie feeling.

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“I just had this feeling that something’s not right, and I don’t know what it was,” she said. “I’ve never really had that before, ever. It was just a feeling that something’s going to happen. And then a second later, the vehicle fishtails. We are spinning and rolling down this little ravine. It was kind of over a bridge but was still three or four rolls from what I remember.  We landed right side up. That experience is what initially caused the traumatic brain injury that I was eventually diagnosed with.”

It wouldn’t be until around 2018 that Gutierrez was diagnosed by a VA neurologist.

“I constantly felt like there was a change in my brain,” said Gutierrez. “Something is going on. I felt like there was something different about me, but I was never able to put a finger on it. I just thought there was something wrong with me. And then finally, I got that diagnosis and that really helped open up the door for healing.”

“You realize that, a lot of times, there are just things that you know are different, but you can’t put your finger on it,” she continued. “That’s what was going on. Emotionally, I felt like some of my personality was a little bit different. My husband was picking up on this… but he had no idea what was going on. Physically, I felt fine, minus getting all of these headaches, but you would never have been able to see just from looking at me on the outside that there was anything that was going on.”

After nearly three years of “unemployment, confusion and invisible health struggles,” Gutierrez wanted to make a difference. She went on to be crowned Ms. Veteran America in 2017, obtained an internship at her congressman’s office in Georgia and pursued studies in social work.

While working, her office received a copy of the Military Times. As Gutierrez flipped the pages, she came across an ad for DOVE or living kidney donation for veterans.

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“Not once in the three years that I have been there, have we ever received the Military Times,” she chuckled. “I decided, ‘Why not?’ I’m in pretty good health, I’m an O+ blood type… Let’s see if this is for me.”

On May 25, 2022 – the weekend of Memorial Day – Gutierrez donated her kidney to a veteran. On April 30, 2024, she donated 40% of her liver to an anonymous recipient.

“The whole reason I wanted to donate to another veteran in need was because [it’s] the most selfless thing you could do,” she said. “We all serve our country. Those of us who wore the uniform, we served knowing that this was a selfless act… It’s an extension of my military service and wearing the uniform.”

“And it was so special to be able to help save the life of a fellow veteran because that allows him and his family to continue their generation of whatever that looks like for them,” she continued. “It could be service members, it could be whatever their profession is. But the point is that they’re able to continue with their family and live the healthiest life possible now that they’ve been given a second chance.”

Life today is “normal” for Gutierrez. She has gone on to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest freestanding mountain above sea level in the world, in 2023.

“It’s even more important for me to take care of myself internally and externally, and do the things that are going to allow me to continue living as long as I can,” she said. “I owe that to myself, and I owe that to the people that I donated to.”

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She now hopes that as people hang up her photos, they’ll feel empowered to also make a difference.

“You don’t have to save a life by donating an organ,” she said. “You can do that simply by an act of selflessness, by going out and helping others in whatever that looks like to you. If it’s donating your time, if it’s a financial donation, there is a way that somebody can… give back in one way or another. I just want people to feel inspired to know that you can do that. You don’t have to do an extreme act like I did… But, there’s always a place for you in your community to be able to support others.”