Wounded soldier didn't want to go back to Walter Reed

Soldier Reluctantly Returns To Walter Reed
Man Injured In Iraq To Continue Therapy In Washington

POSTED: 4:44 pm EDT May 5, 2008

BOSTON -- Winthrop soldier Sean Bannon is fighting back from the wounds that nearly cost him his life. But, reluctantly, he'll have to go back to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center to continue the battle.

NewsCenter 5's Kelley Tuthill reported that in February, Bannon, 22, nearly lost his leg in Iraq when a land mine exploded three feet away from him.

"It went right in there, and it came through and blew all this open and came out there. It cut me across there," Bannon said.

Doctors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center said he wouldn't walk for six months, but Bannon was on his feet in three weeks and walked off the airplane at Logan International Airport for his homecoming.

Since then, he has been working with a physical therapist at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital to regain mobility. Bannon has been coming to Spaulding for a month, but he's certainly not the only soldier who has walked through the door on the road to recovery.

"Our focus is to work with the family and the military in a collaborative way, using our unique infrastructure here in New England to do that," Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital's Dr. Ross Zafonte said.

Bannon's family said that they are so upset because he's being sent back to Washington on Tuesday.
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