Without Hesitation: The Odyssey of an American Warrior by Hugh Shelton & Ronald Levinson & Malcolm McConnell

Author:Hugh Shelton & Ronald Levinson & Malcolm McConnell [Shelton, Hugh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781429946247
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2010-10-12T00:00:00+00:00

7:45 A.M., March 24, 2002, Walter Reed Intensive Care Unit

An M1 Abrams tank weighs almost seventy tons, and I could not have been straining any harder had I been attempting to move one single-handed. But it wasn’t an M-1 that I was exerting so much effort to budge, it was my right big toe—and it remained as rigid and unyielding as if it were disconnected. I still couldn’t feel a thing, and the constant exertion was sapping what little energy I had.

“Now try the left one,” prompted Jim Ecklund, the neurosurgeon, as beads of sweat ran off my forehead and soaked the white pillowcase beneath my head. Nothing. Then more doctors, and more requests: “Try pressing your knee against my hand,” and, “Focus on your index finger—c’mon, you can move it.” But I couldn’t. Not yet. Nor could I brush my teeth, eat unassisted, shave, use the washroom—let’s face it, I couldn’t move, so there was not a thing I could do other than concentrate with all my being on getting those nerves to kick in and activate the muscles.

“You’ll do it,” Carolyn would say; not a psych-up—just a simple statement that she believed with all her heart.

“If anybody can, it’s you,” Anne would chime in. Their belief in me was inspirational and served as an additional motivator.

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