Wounded ride for others

FOCUS ON WOUNDED WARRIORS:
Sea to Shining Sea bike riders stop in Fallon
By Steve Ranson
Lahontan Valley News
June 7, 2012

Retired Navy Seabee Michael Malkin is on a mission, and for him, it was fitting that one leg of the Sea to Shining Sea bike race passed through Fallon, home of the Naval Air Strike and Warfare Center.

Malkin, who served in the Navy from 1990-1998, suffers from a traumatic brain injury that occurred during the first Gulf War — Desert Storm — more than two decades ago.

Prior to heading out on one of the longest legs of their cross-country trip earlier this week, Malkin was candid about his injury.

“We were at a training range in the U.S. on a metal observation tower when we were hit by lightning,” he recalls the resident of Normal, Ill.

From that point on, Malkin's life would never be the same.

“I have had untold years of migraines,” Malkin explained, describing how he is missing much of his tissue from his right front lobe.

Malkin, though, quickly pointed out how helpful the Veterans Administration has been, and how people in Normal supported his quest to ride across the country by working out with him.
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