Best Wishes for SFC Nelson (now MSG Nelson)

There are times when life just doesn't go well.

Upon talking with Matt & myself, we have decided as a mtn & climber family to share the happenings of our brother, Todd (Above: middle in pic). He has served our country for about 18 years and is a veteran of the U.S. Army. His first assignment out of high school & basic was working in S. Florida bringing aid to those affected by Hurricane Andrew. He also served in some form or respect in Bosnia, Europe, Iraq w/ the 3rd ACR, & most recently, Afghanistan with a NATO unit working to build & rebuild various tasks that need heavy equipment.

A little while ago, a suicide bomber hit his convoy and he took the blast. His personal protection equipment and his quick thinking unit saved his life.

Currently, he is in Brooke, which is a great Army facility, & in the best of care to treat his trauma & burns; but he is hurt really bad.

As we know there are many climbers that support our troops, we thought you should know and offer your support & thoughts if you wanted as a post or private mail, we will respect either wish. I/we have already circulated information to friends & family and we have received many many responses which I am archiving for a later date, and for which we are grateful; a special note of thanks goes to the Alpine Rescue Team.

I would ask that those that I have informed of this, please do not post the incident article here.

Thank You,
Mark & Matt

We love ya, Mark; and as you know we're your brothers and sisters and we're here for you.

Our thoughts, prayers, hopes, and best wishes are with you and your family.

Truly a real hero. My family is thankful and indebted. Godspeed.

Same here Mark. My baby brother is getting redeployed to Iraq in 12 days. Todds situation is my worst fear and I'm praying for him and your family.

First off I am sorry for the injury to your brother, no matter what the purpose of our troops overseas they need our support. I just wanted to let you know that I apprecieate all our troops and the effort of your brother. Because of men like him and our armed service members, my llittle climbing monkeys may still have a free country to climb in! Please post anything that climbers can do to help out not only your brother but other injured veterans that may need a hand!

There are no people I respect more than our soldiers.

Thank you SFC Nelson for your years of selfless duty; sorry to hear of your painful sacrifice - Godspeed on recovery, and the best to your people at home and in the field.

Despite all the varied political opinions expressed by the climbers on MP, I think I can safely say that we all hold our miltary folks in the highest regard.

Best wishes to your brother Mark.

Best wishes to Todd for a speedy and full recovery.

We all owe a hell of a lot, to the men and women who have the conviction to put the uniform on, and a do a very difficult job.

Mark,

I hope your brother has a speedy recovery and I too echo the previous posts about the debt we owe to the men and women in the military.

My sister was in Balad for six months and I was full of angst every time the phone would ring. She came home without injury but not without incident. I am so sorry you had to receive the type of phone call I was dreading.

Best wishes to you and your family and let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

Lee

My family also prays for the well-being and healing of your brother and family. As a combat medic in the US Army and a climber I salute your patriot brother and the sacrifices (though I doubt he views them as such) he makes to our nation and its' defense. Climb Strong~

God Speed for a full recovery. We will keep him in our prayers.

Sending positive thoughts to your brother and your family!

The past few days we have seen marked improvement.
First, thanks all.

He is breathing on his own & had engaged limited communication. He has severe burns & trauma to his right side head. They have had him on a feeding tube which is planned to be moved from his throat to directly into the stomach. They've also worked on some of the extremity injuries, I think the worst of which besides burns are compound tib & fib and infection from shrapnel wounds. Internally, he is okay, but they are ever watchful of his head trauma.

He is in good hands and surrounded by family & friends. Everyone wanted to make sure that he knew he was not captured & is not a prisoner. He knows that and also knows he's been burned, but not much else has been made clear; course, he can't talk so it's kinda hard. But he does appear to be coming back to his senses as his wife was going to breakfast, he tried to get out of bed & join her.

He has a long ass road ahead & there won't be a speedy recovery, but we are grateful for his continued improvements & hope for more.

Mark,
Our thoughts are with Todd, you and your family.
-Deaun and family-

Just a quick update & some other cool info:

He able to recognize people & engage in communication. I told him some stuff and he gave me a thumbs up & a fist to fist bop. I told him I was real glad he was alive and he murmered through his shattered jaw & trach tube: "I am, too!"

Here's some info on BAMC (a great facility); there's a alot of men here that have been hurt & burned really bad, but their spirits are just amazing, they love to talk & do stuff:

sammc.amedd.army.mil/
(edited 08-21-09 -- facility is now called SAMMC -- San Antonio Military Medical Center, adding an entire new facility. As of this edited post, they have placed the concrete foundation work)

If anyone has frequent flyer miles; you should look into donating them to Hero Miles for the fisherhouse.org:

fisherhouse.org/programs/he…

(This is what Denzel Washington wrote a check for on the spot, and that's no b.s. -- many other families & orgs have done the same also)

Really, to get some perspective on the question about why they serve & the dedication of their service, any civilian should visit BAMC.

Todd has earned the Combat Action Badge

and awared the Purple Heart

He will have about 3-4 more weeks in ICU and will then move to a "regular" hospital room. He may have about a year of BAMC ahead, then many more as outpatient.

After spending the past week with him, it looks like he is mentally "there", which is great! He was to receive something else as a citation, but exclaimed (again, through a jaw that is shattered & wired shut and with a trach tube): "I'm not infantry!" Kinda funny we thought, but it was important to him.

It looks like he'll make it, he's hurt really bad with a high danger of infection & illness all the time, but he's tough, no question.

We have gotten tons of support!

Glad to hear Todd's doing better! Very cool news!

Best wishes for a complete and timely recovery!

Trauma is a scary thing, glad to hear Todd was blessed enough to come out on the positive side of it all. Get well fast bro.

Mark,

I'm happy to hear that Todd's recovery is looking promising, and that he's moving in a positive direction.

Get well, Todd!

Been a couple of months since the incident.

Todd might be discharged from the hospital this week depending on how his left eye & eyelid graft surgery went a few days ago along with improved mobility. They will know sometime today I believe. Considering most soldiers spend 6-12 months in ICU with these severe burn injuries, he caught some unbelievable breaks in his healing process. If his vision turns out ok, along with continued advances in his mobility, he will move into a Fisher House to continue PT, rehab, & further surgeries.

His legs are still a concern, which flare up with infection threats every now and then & his right arm was burned pretty bad too, but the grafts seem to be taking really well. As well as his head -- which is where the most damage occurred; which the mandible, maxilla, zygomatic, & other doctor-talk-stuff were structurally repaired. He lost his right eye; but retained hearing in his inner ears as well the muscle tissue on his head -- which was huge as well as retaining his mental capacity.

Also & unrelated to the incident, for his service in Afghanistan, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.

I talked with him on the phone last night & he was super super chatty; I mean 45 minutes of this & that; and he is able to goto the cafeteria and eat the food. Which I gotta say, BAMC food is really good, I think a full dinner was all of $2.30 or something like that.

Anyway, he may be able to travel by Xmas; of course he wants to go to the mountains & go skiing.

Thanks ALL!

Discharged from BAMC!

Still a ways to go though.

here's an article from his former base near Tucson

svherald.com/articles/2007/…