Unconditional Honor by Cathy Scott

Author:Cathy Scott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lyons Press
Published: 2015-03-01T00:00:00+00:00

Air force airman first class David Rogers suffered a debilitating traumatic brain injury. The prognosis: He wouldn’t make it. Along the path toward learning how to communicate, walk, and participate in life once again, he was paired with a skilled companion dog to help support him in his struggle.

David joined the air force in 2005, not long after graduating from high school. His first assignment was at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, followed by a deployment to Korea. Then he shipped out for Germany.

While on active duty in 2009 at the NATO base in Spangdahlem, Germany, David was injured in a car accident. During a light rain, he lost control of his car and was broadsided by another vehicle. David was unresponsive at the scene, and was Life-­Flighted to a trauma center in Trier, about twenty-­five miles away.

David had a shattered pelvis, broken ribs, thoracic injuries, and internal-­organ damage. Worst of all, he had suffered a traumatic brain injury that was so severe, it sent him into a coma. Doctors didn’t expect him to live more than a couple of days.

Against all odds, David survived. After four months in a coma, he emerged with limited verbal ability. From that point on, it was up to David and how he responded to the therapies provided by a team of doctors and experts. After more than four months in Germany, David was transferred to the VA Polytrauma in Virginia. His family relocated to Chesterfield, Virginia, to be near the VA facilities so that David could continue the rehabilitation that he’d begun there.

Dr. Shane McNamee explained David’s lengthy rehabilitation to BrainLineMilitary.org. “One of the concepts that we try to get people to understand is that things are going to be normal again someday. But it’s going to be a new normal.

“Whatever happened to them and the current struggles they’re having are not going to define their lives. There’s going to be joy. There’s going to be pain in their lives. But if we can help reawaken the person inside of them, I think we’ve done a tremendous job.”

During his lengthy rehabilitation, David was matched with his skilled service dog, Jersey, through Canine Companions for Independence, at its facility on Long Island. According to David’s mother, Lauri Rogers, Jersey has been a big factor in supporting what she calls David’s “determination and faith.”

David has learned to communicate via a laptop attached to his wheelchair. Through continued rehabilitation therapies, he has also learned to walk again and to dress himself. “David used his arms and strength and gained coordination as he brushed Jersey and dressed him in his vest and collars,” Lauri recalled. “David got out of the house, and slowly his walks increased in frequency and length, so that he can now walk two miles with a walker, no longer using a wheelchair,” she said. “Jersey also jumps on David’s bed, on cue, to snuggle with David when he experiences severe headaches.”

Jersey also serves as an icebreaker for David with strangers. “Jersey’s calming

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