Born to Serve

“YOU’LL NEVER…”

sat in an exam room at the VA hospital in Augusta, Maine, awaiting my team of doctors. I’d served in the Army as a sergeant in the military police. In July 2006 I’d been severely injured during a peacekeeping operation in Korea. Two fingers on my left hand gone. Skull fractures. Spinal cord injury. I had no feeling in my legs below the knees. I lost my memory, the hearing in my left ear and the ability to speak. The head injury led to frequent seizures. For a year and a half I had surgery after surgery in Texas, where I was stationed, and worked hard to rehab my brain and body. I relearned how to walk, talk and read. Still I had to medically retire from the Army and move home to Maine so my mom and stepfather could help take care of me. I prayed