Wounded Sgt. Helaina Lake returned to home to Maine

Wounded Livermore Falls Soldier Gets Hero's Welcome Home
11/20/2012
Reported By: Patty B. Wight

Today, 24-year-old U.S. Army Sgt. Helaina Lake returned to home to Maine. She's spent the past five months recovering at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland from injuries sustained in a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan. Lake suffered burns and severe injuries to the right side of her body, including a shattered leg. Her recovery isn't over, but her return marks the first time she's been home in more than a year. Patty Wight was at the Portland Jetport when Lake arrived.

Sgt. Heliana Lake is surrounded by her father (left, holding Lake's son) and her sister (right, in white shirt) as she arrives at the Portland Jetport.

At the Portland Jetport mid-morning, it was clear that something important was happening, as dozens of firefighters in casual blue uniforms gathered in the arrivals section. One of them was South Portland firefighter Jeff Lake, Sgt. Helaina Lake's uncle. He says he never expected such an outpouring of support, not only from his fellow firefighters, but from around the state.

"It's really unbelievable, the amount of support and the amount of people that are just behind this little girl that went over there and served her country," he says. "And it's just unbelievable."

Helaina Lake was a volunteer firefighter herself before she was deployed to Afghanistan in 2011. She had signed up for a second deployment when the suicide attack happened in June. Since then, her hometown of Livermore Falls has raised thousands of dollars to support her.
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