IAmA US Army Combat Medic who lost his legs in Southern Afghanistan. AMA

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Honestly I had the chance to get with this charity when I was stationed at Fort Sam Houston, but I have never never been comfortable with my balance-even when I had legs. So I have never done it. I mean hell, I have never liked paperwork so it is taking me forever just to fill out the paperwork for a charity that builds houses for practically free for wounded combat veterans. I say free because you have to use the $80,000 grant from the army given to you for renovating a house to make it handicap accessible (which would include a ramp, making doorways larger, etc... Basically anything you can think of). Believe it or not most houses, even with ramps are not ADA approved. Even the house I live in now, just to use the shitter I have to transfer twice. I just keep that my little secret from my chain of command.... Shhh lol

Firstly, I just want to thank you for your service and courage. Your sacrifice is not lost on this humbled Canadian.

My questions are the following:

• What inspired you to join the armed services?
• In the region in which you were stationed, how would you rate the progress with regards to diminished Taliban influence?
• Being an Army medic, you must have to cope with lack of supplies and make do with what you have. How would you rate the medical expertise of the local population?
• Please share your experiences, if any, with the local population. Specifically, I would like to know how the NATO forces are engaging with locals to establish that human trust.
• If you feel comfortable doing so, please describe the moment of the explosion. Being a medic, you probably understood what was happening medically faster than a standard soldier might have.

Again, thank you for the sacrifices you've made. Im sure that life isnt easy sometimes but know that you always have at least 1 fan/supporter in this fellow redditor.

Firstly, I just want to thank you for your service and courage. Your sacrifice is not lost on this humbled Canadian.

My questions are the following:

• What inspired you to join the armed services?

I wanted to be a medic to help people and be the guy that people would be able to come to for help

• Being an Army medic, you must have to cope with lack of supplies and make do with what you have. How would you rate the medical expertise of the local population?

I would rate it at very poor. When we walked by I would treat children with what I had and hopefully they would come back for it to be looked at. Which usually never happened.

• Please share your experiences, if any, with the local population. Specifically, I would like to know how the NATO forces are engaging with locals to establish that human trust.

I would treat what we could medically out in the field but that's about all I did as a medic

• If you feel comfortable doing so, please describe the moment of the explosion. Being a medic, you probably understood what was happening medically faster than a standard soldier might

I set down my aid bag inside the cement school doorway and took a step outside of the building and then the next thing I knew was my mouth was full of dirt and my eyes were covered in it also. I smelt the explosives as I clawed the dirt out of my mouth. The first thing I did was try to get up and find my rifle (which was blown off along with my eye protection and helmet). I was only able to slightly move my left leg and my tibia and fibula were completely uncovered and the only thing holding them together was the top of a new pair of boots I had just bought the day before. By the time I saw my tight leg was completely gone up to the knee we started taking fire. I knew I was in terrible shape and took my TQ and started yelling "medic down" started my left leg and a team leader made it over and finished that TQ and placed another. The medic arrived as I was trying to work the other TQ around my right leg. I ended up with 4 TQ (2 on each leg) which I remember hurting worse then my legs did. I injected myself with an auto-injector of morphine in my leg then I chomped down two fentanyl "lollipops". By thus time my first Sgt and weapons squad leader made it to me and kept me calm as I did my best to stay awake and make fun.

I know there is video somewhere of it but I just have to find out where.

Did you feel any pain after morphine and two fentanyl pops?

Hell yeah!!

I'm a congenital amputee as well. I know it doesn't compare to having your legs blown off in an explosion...but life goes on. I can do any and everything an able-bodied person can...it just takes some improvising. Ride a bike, skateboard, drive a car, run, jump, and be silly. Ladies are a bit of a downer...but even then, you will find the ones that dig you for you --- and not for the fact you don't have legs. Just stay strong, and thank god you are alive and kickin', and still have a functional brain. :)

Well said!

I'm sure you contemplated the possibilities of serious shit happening when you joined the army, but have you ever thought "that won't/can't happen to me" whenever you heard about army casualties?

We were told the unit we were replacing took heavy casualties so I never had the thought completely out of my head

What is it like going from an able bodied young man with your life ahead to having so many opportunities taken away before your eyes

Its just a harsh reality that I have to deal with. I signed the papers so I can't blame anyone other then myself and the guys that put that bomb there

So sad to hear about your legs- Thanks for serving our country! Might I ask how well you have been supported by people emotionally? What is it like walking with a prosthetic leg?

While I was in Texas I didnt have too much of a support system but now that I am in the state I grew up in it has definitely turned around. Walking on Prostetics is like trying to walk through sand all the time while constantly being off balance

Huh, that seems like a pretty annoying method.

What is your preferred method of moving around then ? And what would you ideally want if you could choose any ?

If im out and about with friends I like my legs but around people I form know or around the house my go-to mode of transportation is my freedom chair aka wheel chair.

Ive always wondered what cars they make with the hand controls. Are they specialty or could you get it in just about any car?

Depending on your injury you get different style of hand controls but they both control the gas and break mechanically

How many people have drank beer out of your leg?

E: got a lot of amputee buddies and every time we go out, someone (some chick) chugs beer from their leg

None yet haha I have my 1 year coming up though.

Thank you for your service. Do you think, after all this time in Afghanistan, that the US made an impact, or even should have been there in the first place?

I feel like we have enough things on our plate on the home front so we should have concentrated on our economy and security first

I hate that doing such a noble job cost you so much. You have my great respect and appreciation, along with wishes for a rewarding life.

OK, this may be a little different. Do you use dark humor to get through your day? If so, which joke makes you laugh the most?

Also, I'll share one. My wife had breast cancer so we made the top ten reasons to have a mastectomy. Number one was, "You can still work at Hooters, but only part time."

Medic humor was already pretty dark but now I get to make a lot of jokes about freedom and jokingly take things the wrong way to make things uncomfortable

Mmmm Zangabad/Panj'wai area? Your unit replaced us. Condolences for the legs.

We were mostly at a TI we built but we had most of our stuff at good ol' zbad

Did you ever find them?

Thank you for your commitment and service to your country.

Find...my legs? Ha

I didn't mean it in any offensive way, your title just mentioned you losing your legs. I know what you meant, but was making a little joke out of it

I didn't take offense, honestly. I guess I'm not as funny on the internet ha

As someone sitting in reception for 68W AIT, do you regret serving or going to a combat unit?

Never

Fellow 68W here, any advice for a medic on his first deployment to afghanistan? I'll be heading over shortly.

Do you know the area you are going to?

not entirely. some say RC north/east, some say south

They must have changed our mission 3 times before we deployed. Its hard to say when you don't know the area you're going to

Do you have phantom limb pain?

Yeah. Its a mix between a sand blaster and electrical pulses through my legs

have you tried the mirror box? I saw a video about it and am curious to see if it works for others. Also thank you for your service and courage.

Those only really work well on people who only lost one leg. That way the reflection tricks the brain into thinking it has two legs

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I was on lyrica and gabapenten and though I recently stopped the lyrica

All the time? How do you function? How do you sleep?

Sometimes the drugs work but most of the time I just suck it up

what province/district? I was in Zharay, Kandahar

Panjwaii Valley, Kandahar

I admire your bravery and perseverance. What roles do you take on as an army medic? Do you have to be at the same level as a doctor?

They save lives. They can do all kinds of stuff. The civilian equivalent would be an EMT or an EMS, the website suggest that they are adding a new program that would make them emergency paramedics.

The sad thing is that after being in war zones and saving lives under fire, they are still required to take a year or two of classes, learning what they already know, have actually done, and probably even taught others, before they are certified to use the skills taught to them by the army in the civilian world.

Also your PA can give you training to prepare for those advance roles. I was lucky and had 2 high speed PA's who wanted all the medics to know what they knew

Do you think war is inevitable?

People disagree and get into fights all the time. It just depends on what your able to pay for.

I love you, dickhead. You better be around next time I make it back home. I don't care that this isn't a question.

Luv u boo hahah

When you swim do people call you Bob ??

Kidding...Thanks for serving :)

I actually haven't been cleared to swim yet. WHICH SUCKS because I finally made it to California in time for summer and I can't even go in the waves

What do you mean 'cleared to swim'? Do you still have open wounds?

Due to a lot of scar tissue I still have an original skin graft healing.

Have any of your friends said to you, "you got new legs lt. Dan".?

I definitely joke about my legs more then my friends seem too, but no one has said that to me yet.

What is the most difficult challenge you had to overcome since the loss of your limbs?

By the way, thank you for serving and continuing to serve this country!

The thing I find most difficult has been adjusting to my wheelchair. A lot of houses are not wheelchair accessible, especially bathroom doors. I have had a hard time accepting help too, though that's more me being stubborn then anything.

Basically: Death to all stairs!

Yeah, i get you. It must be annoying to try and move around. I was on a wheelchair for a while. I had fractured my leg (nothing compared to you) and I hated that i couldn't get around my own house!

Also, the help, do you feel weird that everyone tries to help you? Or is it weirder when people don't help you and treat you like a normy? I'm guessing everyone tries to help, and you've grown used to it.

I would rather struggle with something then have help most of the time but I also try not to be rude let people people help me, especially if I am actually struggling with something.

Do you get any input into the nature of your prosthetic legs? For example, can you request prosthetic legs with feet the same size as your old feet so you can still wear your shoes? Do they come in different skin tones? For people who still have one leg, do they try to make it the same thickness as the existing leg?

They give you a set mainly for walking, a backup pair and a recreational pair with special feet or whatever you need to do what you want to do. I haven't seen anyone with skin tone prosthetic legs though

What are your plans for the future?

Brew lots of beer

Has the army done anything to help you get a leg up on life now?

But seriously: I imagine that there aren't an enormous amount of people who are dual leg amputees, one above the knee and one below. What's the difference in feel and functionality between them on a day to day basis?

Depending on how swollen my rt knee is I usually only have a few bad pain days. Mostly it feels like my legs are having a sandblaster turned on them with some sudden almost "electrocuted" feelings that are pretty intermittent

Thank you for your courage, and risking your life to protect and serve our country. My question is, how far have combat medics come since the first World War? And what advances in technology are you looking forward to that will help you do your job more efficiently? Thanks!

That's a tough question to give a simple answer to. Combat medicine has gone in a lot of different directions in the last twenty years. Even the patient survey changed from the "ABC's" you learn in EMT Basic to what you will learn while going through whiskey training and might even change depending on how your PA feels it should be done.

What has been the most difficult adjustment? Aside from the prosthetic limb(s), have you found it difficult to adjust to others reactions, PTSD, returning to a "normal" life...?

It has been hard to adjust to people starring. It definitely puts me back in AFG.

Agreed. People starring is the worst. After a while you come to ignore it. However, only the really ignorant stare the hardest. Wearing jeans helps conceal it.

I have had a problem with snapping at people staring, which is unusual for me because I don't like causing scenes in public places.

Firstly, thank you for your service and sacrifice and I hope everything works out for the best for you. My first question is.. How difficult is medic school? And how many people usually pass? My second is.. How can you become a flight medic? And what are the differences in everyday life between a flight medic and a medic? Thanks again!

Medic school isn't hard if you study and stay away from people who obviously don't give a shit. Mostly everyone will pass once they get past the NREMT though. I wanted to reenlist for flight medic but obviously that got shot down after I got blown up.

Since I was just a line medic, I don't want to explain the differences that I was told and have read without any personal experience

Thank you sir for your service and for answering our questions. I am a future military physician (starting school in august) and I am wondering, if you had to do it again (sign up for the military) knowing what would happen, would you do it?

If I had to do it again I would have brought up the fact that we didn't have the proper equipment to detect carbon rods

What made you want to become a combat medic? Its a branch not many are willing to choose and I cannot thank you enough for your service as one.

I have always wanted to help people. My best friend (before he was killed) always said "the fact that I can be there on possibly the worst day of someone's life and make then feel at the very least more comfortable is worth every ounce of sweat I have" and that really stuck with me

Thank you. My question is a bit on the gory side. Iv'e had some rudimentary training in first aid and during the Boston Marathon bombing there was a degloving injury in the blast that left both femoral arteries still needing to be clamped. I thought those kinds of trauma caused the blood vessels to constrict and stop most of the bleeding. Can you detail that a bit? And were you C&A immediately after or were you immediately in shock?

Thanks for what you did for the country and for the injured.

The blood vessels constrict when a casualty is first hit because the veins are essentially stretched out across the body and will snap back when severed.

I was conscious the entire time and managed to put on a 2 tournaquets along with some morphine and fentanyl from my vest. When you are sitting there waiting to get evacuated a lot of people make jokes, I know one of the first things I did was complain about buying new boots the day before and only having the top knot at the end of my left tib/fib

First off, thank you for your courage and dedication to serving. I appreciate all that people like you have done to protect the freedoms a lot of Americans take for granted. Questions... How has the army helped you through this ordeal (medically, financially, emotionally), and how long will this support last? Indefinitely I hope.

If you are an amputee you receive care the rest of your life

The army gives a certain amount of money, basically per joint lost, to the amputee that can reach up to $100,000. They also have something called the adaptive housing grant which caps out around $90,000 that will go towards renovation of a house to make it handicap friendly. ON TOP OF THAT you get around $18,000 towards a car that is convenient for you. Given all this changes depending on the extent of your injury and most people don't qualify for everything.

Even with being unable to perform your medical duties, is there a chance for future deployment to combat zones?

No legs, no deployment

Do you know what the complete monthly disability benefits will be for your injuries? I was trying to figure out the chart for such disabilities awhile back and could not get a handle on it?

It all depends on your VA and Army ratings.

Edit: I forgot rhere is SSD and if you were injured in combat you get combat pay too.

I've been told that those who raise arms against ISAF don't really fit any age, educational, or age demographic. Is that true?

As in the combatants?

First of all, thank you for your service. I was thinking about enlisting as a 68W (Combat Medic) and was wondering how the skills I would learn as a 68W would transfer into the civilian world. Also was if anyone knows, I wanted to get the airborne option and was wondering if a 68W would be good for airborne. Sorry for the wall of text, one of my first times posting from an app on my phone.

Medic can help you get into a lot of entry level healthcare jobs and can prepare you for higher levels of care. There are also a lot of identifiers you can Google that give you more of a specific career path if you want.

Just because you get the airborne option in your contract doesn't mean you will

A: Get into the school (Soldiers attached to a unit already are considered senior to you and they will go ahead of you

B: Pass once you make it.

Good luck though!

Are you still convinced that you've done the right thing when joining the army? I mean after losing your legs, it must be very hard to accept your loss. But you've done it for America. Do you regret it to have risked your life for your country?

I risked my life as much as the other men I worked with risked there lives for mine. I don't really feel regret for anything (As of yet lol)

Were you pulled from the location you were injured by a dustoff unit?

Yeah, I spent around 45 minutes on the ground before a bird landed then it took another half-hour to get to a higher echelon of care

Do you think you could have done something differently in order to save your legs, or maybe avoid being there in the first place?

We did not have the right equipment to detect Carbon rods since they pick up differently then regular metals. Honestly though, maybe I could have paid more attention to the door way and where I was setting up my casualty collection point. IEDs love doorways

My gf is in AIT ft Sam. She is national guard 68w. What are deployment chances?

I was never NG but I think its every 4 years, don't quote that though. Deployments dwell times and frequency are getting shorter and farther apart though.

they always seem to take sick soldiers to germany rather than to the USA. why is that? is the medical care better in germany?

Well that's just the first stop before the re enter the US.

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Well even though I feel as though voting is basically just a show for the people I still vote for the best man for the job. I don't side with either a democrat, republican, or any other political party

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Even though I have never been too interested in guns I fully support our founding fathers and think every American has the right to own and carry a weapon. There are some parts about not allowing assault rifles I dont like and other parts I do, there has to be a better way to control who gets to have those weapons and at the same time not shitting on our bill of rights

Hey brother, beware of the poly-pharmacy epidemic in our ranks. Met with the Chief of Staff recently and my 1SG told him we need better controls over psychotropics and painkillers.

I hope you are getting the best care and if you need anything, let me know. I have a lot of friends at Lewis.

When I transferred they took all of my opiates. So I went from a 75mcg patch and percs to nothing, talk about withdrawals

Thank you. Hopefully, Reddit can help with your recovery. Also, whenever you're feeling down, http://www.reddit.com/r/aww.

Already subscribed!

I am seriously considering joining the army and everyone tries to talk me out of it, did anybody try to talk you out of joining?. Also, Do combat medics carry a rifle like normal squaddies or do you just have a sidearm?

I carried a rifle just like a normal grunt.

No one really tried talking me out of it, weirdly enough.

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I have something called vocational rehabilitation. Its like the GI Bill on steroids. I have 48 months of free schooling and get paid extra for everything.

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Yes, its called phantom pain and phantom sensation

Do you have any nightmares about the explosion?

Nightly, it definitely is one of the harder things mentally to deal with.

Imagine your mouth is full of dirt and you can't yell for help. Your eyes are covered with dirt so you can't see anything but all you can tell is you are in a hole. You can't move your legs and your weapon is gone along with your helmet. You hear gunshots and you smell the explosives. Then when you finally rub the dirt from your eyes and scrapes dirt from your mouth all you see is your left tib fib held together but the top of your boots and you are unable to move your right leg..

Pretty shitty dream, but can be controlled by meds

wish you all the best and am glad you are adjusting to post war life:) just from the photo, I am curious....what does your band sound like? do you have any recordings you could post? yar!!

We were a hardcore band lol

When did this happen? Do you happen to know an EOD tech that is a below the knee (one leg) amputee also from Fort Lewis? He's my boss.

Where is he stationed now? When was he injured?

What was your experience like at NMCSD? Any memorable interactions there?

Thank you for your service. I hope you make a strong and complete recovery!

NMCSD is great! It makes up for the smaller size with a more personal feel to it. Fort Sam seems like you are just a number getting pushed through. Though there are some aspects I miss. The Center for the Intrepid was pretty nice and the physical therapists I had were pretty nice. There just wasn't enough of them for it to be more personal.

Did you only lose your legs or is your entire lower half gone?

I have a few inches on my left side below the knee and I had to have a few inches taken off my right leg above the knee

do you regret joining? THank you for your service.

No, being a medic was the best thing I could have done with my life and I enjoyed making friends. (travelling was pretty fun too haha)

Thank you for your service. I'm from Germany, and all our politicians talk about is that our troops are mostly advisors and in the "good" part of Afghanistan, where there is much less violence/resistance/terrorism. What is your opinion on that and the German(or any other) forces? Do you think they are "doing enough"?

I wasn't really around any German Forces but Kandahar is still a very dangerous place

I'd like to thank you for your service, no matter what your intentions were you ended up making a great sacrifice for kids like me who don't have to worry about a draft or something similar because you stepped in. Recently I've been thinking about joining the army reserves or national guard after highschool and then doing rotc in college, so basically joining the military, pending medical eligibility from a recent spontaneous pneumothorax. Would you recommend joining the U.S. army to someone like myself?

Well spontaneous pneumothorax can happen at anytime. From what I was told (years ago) was that taller white males who run a lot are more susceptible to it then anyone else. I mean if you get medically cleared for it and that's what you wanna do then do it and best of luck

Hey man thanks for what you do I went through ft Sam 3 years ago for medic school and am about to leave for my first deployment as a combat medic in October. What were some things you brought along that had you known about before would have made the deployment easier?

Foot powder, extra socks/shirts, and I made sure my aid bag worked for me as best it could before we deployed.

The aid station will run out of foot powder fast.

Former 1/5 Inf grunt outta Ft Lewis. Thanks for your sacrifice brother. Who performed first aid on you and did they immediately apply tourniquets? Number one medical aid device you carried? And is that you singing in the pic, and what are your influences musically?

Well I listen to alot of Oi!, punk, and ska. I really enjoy most types of music. Hell, get me drunk enough and I'll rap you some Gucci Mane HAH

So why the fuck do you have 666 in your name?

Why do you have hippo in yours?

I am sad that you lost your legs for rich, lying politicians.

At least some Afghan kid is playing soccer with whatever's left of me over there haha

I appreciate what you did. I'm also a veteran. However, how does it feel to know that you lost your legs to protect our corrupt government's and large corporation's interests there in Afghanistan? We sure as hell didn't go into Afghanistan to 'protect our freedom'. So, how does it feel to be used as a pawn to make sure our large corporations and the military industrial complex are able to profit because of this alleged 'war on terror' there in Afghanistan? I'm not trying to be an asshole. I'm just tired of people not seeing why we're REALLY in Afghanistan, that's all(not the OP necessarily)...

Any war on foreign soil, in my opinion, is wasted money. We have social programs being cut that people need and the amount of debt the average American has is outrages.

I went in as a medic and I did my job well so I honestly have no regrets about even if I was a "pawn".

why does every person who has been in the military think they are so important that people want to ask them questions? seriously, theres like 5 of these "i made a stupid decision at the mall one day while i was in high school, and now im so important that you should want to know the amazing things i know and do at what is essentially adult summer camp, AMA" going on right now. NOBODY CARES.

P.o.s when you sacrifice life and limb for your Country then you can talk. The worst injury you've probably had to overcome was stubbing your toe on the way upstairs from your moms basement so stfu

You think you need to do that to speak?

EDIT: This is why I think all AMAs about any military person or organisation should be banned from reddit.

Its not necessarily an AMA about military service, Its about what the process has been from point of injury to where I am now.

not referring directly to you, it is a general opinion regarding the possibilities of propaganda, but think about it - as is pointed out (and downvoted to shit) if this was a non military related post it would be ignored largely methinks.

but then you began your ama with US Army etc - therefore realistically it is about the military

I said US Army because the Navy have Corpsman so I just wanted it to be clear

Rather irrelevant in general, still brought up the military.

So if you made the title what would you have named it?

you signed on the dotted line dipshit, you cant complain. people in this world suffer worse injuries than you every hour, and not for the same stupid fucking reasons as you. they didnt sign any dotted line and they leave every day without any sense of the "heroism" that you so falsely think you deserve. you signed the paper idiot, thats the bottom line. literally. and yea, youre right, the worse injury ive had was a few broken bones, because im not a fucking moron like you, and i chose school over the fucking military summer camp program. again, idiot.

I am in school and I actually receive a lot more financial aid then even just normal military might. I don't even remember complaining, its an AMA.

I understand still living at home can be a drag. There's no need to take it out on individuals on the internet.