Morgan Hill
– A critically injured Morgan Hill man’s recovery from a
roadside bomb blast in Iraq last week could take months, the man’s
family said.
Morgan Hill – A critically injured Morgan Hill man’s recovery from a roadside bomb blast in Iraq last week could take months, the man’s family said.
U.S. Army medic David Shebib, 22, a 2002 graduate of Central High School, is recovering from a serious brain injury, a broken left arm and multiple shrapnel wounds to his head, neck and back.
Shebib arrived Sunday at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and was joined by family members on New Year’s Day. Tuesday, he had surgery to repair damage to his lung.
His father, George Shebib, a Vietnam War veteran, said the family was relieved Thursday that their son was making progress.
“Doctors removed the ventilation tube,” the senior Shebib said. “It’s a long, slow process, but David is going to make it.”
Doctors told the family Shebib could stay in the neurological ward for as long as three months.
“When they asked him where he was, he said ‘Iraq’ ” his father said.
The family said their son could later be moved to a hospital at Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Wash.
The family said Shebib would receive the Purple Heart for his bravery. Shebib, a member of the 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team out of Fort Richardson, Alaska, was patrolling a road south of Baghdad the afternoon of Dec. 28 when the blast hit.
He was taken by helicopter to an Iraqi hospital and then to a U.S. military hospital in Germany.
His father said the “quick action” of two sergeants saved his son’s life by applying pressure to a severed artery.
Yashar Mira, a former classmate of Shebib who now lives in San Diego, said he was shaken by the news of his friend’s nearly fatal injuries.
“It was definitely tough when I first heard the news,” Mira said. “I went to my family and really broke down. But it could of been a lot worse … and he’s making good progress.”
Shebib’s rank was private first class when he was deployed Oct. 25.
“As far as my perspective on the war, it’s tough,” Mira said. “He’s doing the most selfless act for our country, and he gets hurt doing it. I can’t thank him enough, and veterans in general.”
So far, 11 members of Shebib’s 3,500-soldier brigade have been killed, according to U.S. Army spokesman Chuck Canteberry. Last week the 3000th U.S. military death was tallied.
