Helping the wounded

When Cindy Parsons’ son returned home from Iraq after suffering traumatic brain injury and a double leg amputation, Wounded Warrior Project was there to support her and her son. Now part of The Warriors Speak Team for Wounded Warrior Project, Parsons speaks out about the project and the assistance it continues to provide to her son, Shane Parsons, and thousands of other wounded soldiers. Parsons visited Kiwanis Manor Monday afternoon and spoke about the Wounded Warrior Project and Shane’s struggles and successes since Sept. 30, 2006, the day anti-coalition forces attacked Shane’s U.S. Army convoy while it was on a mission. Cindy said Shane, who joined the U.S. Army in 2004 and was a month away from returning home, volunteered that day to go on the mission in place of a fellow soldier. Cindy said explosives detonated on a road during the mission, injuring Shane so severely he had to be resuscitated a few times. “He literally died right on site,” she said. “When he got on the Black Hawk, they resuscitated him.” Cindy said Shane lost both legs above the knee, suffered severe anoxic brain injury and has endured 15 surgeries since. Shane spent three years in military rehabilitation and then a year in a brain-injury assisted-living home before returning to Fostoria. Cindy said Shane continues to suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder and anxiety disorder, and with the help of Wounded Warrior Project’s Independence Program, is improving daily. “The invisible wounds of war is what he was struggling with,” Parsons said of Shane. “Traumatic brain injury and PTSD – you cannot see those – and those are some of the main concerns of Afghanistan and Iraq veterans.” Cindy said an adult disability literacy tutor who was hired to help Shane after he returned home continues to be paid through Wounded Warrior Project. Other endeavors Shane has been able to experience with the help of Wounded Warrior Project include biking, downhill skiing and deep-sea fishing. Shane even began working as a football coach in Fostoria and recently joined Ohio Warriors, a Columbus-based adult sled hockey team. Cindy said Wounded Warrior Project makes sure Shane is transported to the team’s practices. “Wounded Warrior Project has lifted such a burden that I know he will continue what he’s doing and he will be successful at it,” Cindy said. Cindy said in 2009, she participated in the Wounded Warrior Project Caregiver Summit in Washington, D.C., and lobbied Congress for passage of the Caregiver and Veteran Omnibus Health Service Act of 2010. The bill provides assistance and stipends for those who support and care for wounded soldiers. Cindy said Wounded Warrior Project now has 20 programs and services for wounded soldiers and their caregivers, and its commitment is to serve 100,000 soldiers by 2017. It currently serves 50,000. Beth McFarlan-Hutson, executive director of Kiwanis Manor, presented Cindy with a check for $1,139 Monday for Wounded Warrior Project. McFarlan-Hutson said residents raised the money in the past year through activities such as an ice cream social, a craft bazaar, luncheons and bake sales. “The residents wanted to come up with a project to give back to the community. The idea was just that because they’re getting older doesn’t mean they couldn’t give back,” she said. “They did research and found that Wounded Warriors was a good thing to give back to.”