Most of the time my intention in writing this column is to tell
stories of local people striving to make a difference for our
community as well as for our environment.
Most of the time my intention in writing this column is to tell stories of local people striving to make a difference for our community as well as for our environment. With bad news inundating our lives on a daily basis, it is such a joy to me to talk to so many different people who have good news on their minds.
Ordinary people become heroes by surviving certain challenges in life, and by discovering the ways in which they can better the lives of others. I try to capture what it is about each person’s story that makes it unique and compelling enough to be worth remembering.
However, sometimes news comes across my desk that doesn’t fit into any of the neat niches I have carved out for myself. Parents of local Marines serving in Iraq have been sending me information that is worth sharing with as many people as possible.
Due to modern technological advances, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are different from any other. Advances in medical and military technologies and the nature of modern body armor mean that many soldiers are surviving devastating injuries that would have killed them in the past.
Unfortunately, many of the service members who do survive are suffering from what we now call Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). In Iraq, a troubling 60 percent of those who suffer impact injuries incur TBI, a devastating injury. It can result not only in impaired physical mobility, but deficits in cognitive function, etc. Fortunately, there exists a team of dedicated professionals who can treat this brain damage. The closest hospital that can handle this type of injury is the VA Palo Alto Hospital, which has one of the VA’s only four traumatic brain injury units in the nation.
The VA Palo Alto hospital gets referrals from Gilroy and the entire West Coast and as far away as Texas. At the hospital, these soldiers spend difficult months in rehabilitation, fighting daily to get their lives back.
Meanwhile, wives, mothers, girlfriends, fathers and siblings have to fend for themselves as they come to be near their loved one and help in the healing process. Nurses and therapists at the hospital take up collections to help out-of-town families of servicemen like Cpl. Eric Costillo, whose mother who is single and makes $12,000 a year.
Cpl. Costillo lost almost a quarter of his head, is nearly blind and struggles mightily just to take a few steps. The last thing his mother should have to worry about is where she will sleep or how she can pay for a hotel room to be near her son.
The families of Bay Area Marines, soldiers, and sailors who have served in Iraq are starting a campaign to raise money for a Fisher House, which is like a Ronald McDonald House, and would provide the families with a place to stay.
Raising money for a Fisher House will have a huge impact for years to come. It will not only serve families of injured Iraqi service members, but will be there for all veterans’ families who have someone they love going through hospice or long-term rehabilitation programs, including traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and blindness rehabilitation.
On behalf of the service members, veterans and their families, I applaud you for caring and taking the time to help us help them. Details: http://www.fisherhousepa.com.
