Wounded veterans turn to yoga for strength and solace
At Naval Medical Center San Diego, amputees and trauma victims practice an ancient Hindu tradition. The military is increasingly using alternative therapies.
By Tony Perry
Los Angeles Times
June 16, 2013
SAN DIEGO — Army 1st Sgt. Chris Montera, who lost both legs above the knee and suffered third-degree burns over 60% of his body in a mortar attack in Afghanistan, is doing a headstand, guided by yoga instructor Sunny Keays.
"It takes a lot of pressure off my back and spine," said Montera, 33, who was on his fourth combat tour when he was hurt. "It helps with the pain."
Marine Sgt. James Bernard, 25, who returned from combat in Helmand province in Afghanistan with a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder, is going through a series of stretching, relaxing and breathing exercises nearby, under the gentle guidance of yoga instructor Barbara Lyon.
Bernard's wife, Keely, 25, said yoga is helping her husband regain the composure and self-confidence that he had before he went to war. She accompanies him to yoga classes at Naval Medical Center San Diego.
"He seems more aware now of who he is," she said.
To help military personnel overcome the physical and emotional wounds from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, hospitals run by the military and the Department of Veterans Affairs are increasingly turning to the ancient Hindu practice of yoga and other alternative therapies, including tai chi, transcendental meditation and Reiki.
read more here
Showing posts with label burns. Show all posts
Showing posts with label burns. Show all posts
Monday, June 17, 2013
Yoga offers healing to wounded war fighters
Find what works for taking care of your mind, your body and your spirit. Keep looking until it all works together to help you heal.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
The headline should read Advocate Ty Ziegel died after helping many
The headline should read Advocate died after helping many
Ex-Marine who survived Iraq bombing died of drugs
St. Louis Dispatch
May 4, 2013
A former Marine from Illinois who was badly disfigured by a suicide bombing in Iraq died of a combination of heroin and alcohol intoxication, a coroner's inquest determined.
Tyler Ziegel died Dec. 26 after a fall, but Peoria County Coroner Johnna Ingersoll said Saturday it was the combination of drugs in his system _ not the fall _ that killed him. The coroner's jury ruled Thursday that the 30-year-old's death was accidental.
"Like so many of his fellow wounded warriors, Ty fought back," Quinn said in the address. "He fought back through 59 surgeries and untold emotional scars to become an advocate for veterans and military families."
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Ty Ziegel update
Monday, November 12, 2012
Combat wounded veteran runs to honor fallen soldiers
Wonderful story but it would have been nice if the reporter knew the difference between Army and Marines Corps.
This is post number 17,000!
Army Vet Runs Across Country Planting Flags for Fallen Soldiers
By COLLEEN CURRY
Nov. 11, 2012
At each mile marker he crossed on his 2,146-mile trip from Minnesota to Texas, Mike Ehredt stopped running for a moment to plant a flag representing a fallen American soldier.
On his journey, Project America Run, he has jogged 26 miles a day across the country to memorialize soldiers who died in the Afghanistan war. In 2010 he ran from Oregon to Maine to honor those who died in Iraq.
"It's to honor and say thank you to those that died in Iraq and Afghanistan," he said.
"I stop each mile, put a flag down that bears the name, rank, and hometown, in the numerical order of their deaths, and it creates an invisible wall across the country. I just wanted to do something for them, something genuine and pure that no one would replicate."
read more here
This is post number 17,000!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Iraq's Burn Unit Working Miracles at military base
Iraq's Burn Unit Working Miracles
Tough Volunteers At Military Base Have Helped Heal At Least 1,000 Iraqi Children
SCANIA BASE, Iraq, July 31, 2008
(CBS) Sgt. Joe Barzeski is the closest thing in Central Iraq to a miracle worker.
And 11-year-old Ali is going to need a miracle to get over burns from a kerosene stove.
When starting the treatment, Barzeski said: "It has to come off so that the medicine will work. Plus this will get all crusty - and scab up and that will be an ugly scar."
The soldiers turn up the radio to drown out the crying, CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reports. Conditions are primitive. But even so, the burn unit is filled to capacity.
It's tucked away on a U.S. base that's known as the biggest gas station in Iraq. It's where military convoys refuel.
While on the far side, Iraqi families - as many as 80 a day - wait patiently to be admitted to a clinic that's more MASH unit than E.R.
Barzeski had no medical training before he joined the Army - so he's been learning on the job.
go here for more
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/31/eveningnews/main4312349.shtml
Tough Volunteers At Military Base Have Helped Heal At Least 1,000 Iraqi Children
SCANIA BASE, Iraq, July 31, 2008
(CBS) Sgt. Joe Barzeski is the closest thing in Central Iraq to a miracle worker.
And 11-year-old Ali is going to need a miracle to get over burns from a kerosene stove.
When starting the treatment, Barzeski said: "It has to come off so that the medicine will work. Plus this will get all crusty - and scab up and that will be an ugly scar."
The soldiers turn up the radio to drown out the crying, CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reports. Conditions are primitive. But even so, the burn unit is filled to capacity.
It's tucked away on a U.S. base that's known as the biggest gas station in Iraq. It's where military convoys refuel.
While on the far side, Iraqi families - as many as 80 a day - wait patiently to be admitted to a clinic that's more MASH unit than E.R.
Barzeski had no medical training before he joined the Army - so he's been learning on the job.
go here for more
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/31/eveningnews/main4312349.shtml
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Arkansas Army National Guards tend to kids burns in Iraq
Soldiers treat Iraqi kids with severe burns
By Rick Fahr - Log Cabin Democrat via Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Jul 5, 2008 15:12:02 EDT
SCANIA, Iraq — YaYa sits quietly on the table. A flowered plastic band holds back her black hair, revealing a smile that only a child’s heart musters. YaYa’s sparkle grows for a moment as a soldier walks toward her, but then she notices the tweezers and the scrub brush.
Remembering, she turns grim. The next half-hour will bring excruciating pain. There will be candy and perhaps a toy later, but the pain comes first.
Sgt. 1st Class Stanley Krupsky smiles as he reaches out to welcome YaYa back. The girl’s hand finds his shoulder. She is ready.
YaYa cries as the soldier peels and scrubs away the dead skin. She muffles her screams, and Krupsky has to gather his composure more than once. He hates to hurt the girl, but he has no choice.
“I know it hurts, but it’s got to be done,” he said.
Krupsky, a convoy escort team commander for Charlie Troop, 1st Squadron, 151st Cavalry Regiment, 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Arkansas Army National Guard, is helping YaYa recover from burns suffered in a fire more than a month ago. Two of her family members died from their wounds, and two others travel with their grandmother three days a week to Scania, to a free burn clinic where soldiers from Charlie Troop and other units volunteer.
Most of the patients are children who have suffered horrific burns, their arms and legs blistered and raw. YaYa’s burned skin is bright pink now, a good sign. She’s healing.
Krupsky and the troops in his team rearrange their mission schedules, sacrificing what little off time they might otherwise have between missions, to spend a few hours at the clinic. They do what they can to help the children and leave them with a smile — candy and toys the soldiers buy at the post exchanges or receive in the mail from home.
“We just do what we can to help,” said Krupsky, from Oregon.
click post title for more
By Rick Fahr - Log Cabin Democrat via Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Jul 5, 2008 15:12:02 EDT
SCANIA, Iraq — YaYa sits quietly on the table. A flowered plastic band holds back her black hair, revealing a smile that only a child’s heart musters. YaYa’s sparkle grows for a moment as a soldier walks toward her, but then she notices the tweezers and the scrub brush.
Remembering, she turns grim. The next half-hour will bring excruciating pain. There will be candy and perhaps a toy later, but the pain comes first.
Sgt. 1st Class Stanley Krupsky smiles as he reaches out to welcome YaYa back. The girl’s hand finds his shoulder. She is ready.
YaYa cries as the soldier peels and scrubs away the dead skin. She muffles her screams, and Krupsky has to gather his composure more than once. He hates to hurt the girl, but he has no choice.
“I know it hurts, but it’s got to be done,” he said.
Krupsky, a convoy escort team commander for Charlie Troop, 1st Squadron, 151st Cavalry Regiment, 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Arkansas Army National Guard, is helping YaYa recover from burns suffered in a fire more than a month ago. Two of her family members died from their wounds, and two others travel with their grandmother three days a week to Scania, to a free burn clinic where soldiers from Charlie Troop and other units volunteer.
Most of the patients are children who have suffered horrific burns, their arms and legs blistered and raw. YaYa’s burned skin is bright pink now, a good sign. She’s healing.
Krupsky and the troops in his team rearrange their mission schedules, sacrificing what little off time they might otherwise have between missions, to spend a few hours at the clinic. They do what they can to help the children and leave them with a smile — candy and toys the soldiers buy at the post exchanges or receive in the mail from home.
“We just do what we can to help,” said Krupsky, from Oregon.
click post title for more
Friday, May 2, 2008
Marine Sgt. Merlin German dies of burns from 2005
`Miracle' Marine dies; badly burned in 2005 Iraq blast
`Miracle' Marine badly burned in 2005 Iraq blast dies after becoming emblem of resolve
The Associated Press
AP News
May 02, 2008 07:37 EST
A Marine sergeant who became a symbol of resilience as he strove to recover from a roadside bomb blast in Iraq that blanketed 97 percent of his body with burns has died, the Defense Department said. He was 22.
Sgt. Merlin German died April 11 at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where he was continuing treatment for the injuries he suffered in combat on Feb. 22, 2005, the Pentagon said Thursday.
The former turret gunner was dubbed the "Miracle Man" for his determination in facing his wounds, which cost the former saxophone player his fingers and rippled his face with scars. He endured more than 40 surgeries, spent 17 months in a hospital and had to learn to walk again.
`Miracle' Marine badly burned in 2005 Iraq blast dies after becoming emblem of resolve
The Associated Press
AP News
May 02, 2008 07:37 EST
A Marine sergeant who became a symbol of resilience as he strove to recover from a roadside bomb blast in Iraq that blanketed 97 percent of his body with burns has died, the Defense Department said. He was 22.
Sgt. Merlin German died April 11 at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where he was continuing treatment for the injuries he suffered in combat on Feb. 22, 2005, the Pentagon said Thursday.
The former turret gunner was dubbed the "Miracle Man" for his determination in facing his wounds, which cost the former saxophone player his fingers and rippled his face with scars. He endured more than 40 surgeries, spent 17 months in a hospital and had to learn to walk again.
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