06 April 2008
Courage
Ryan and Jen Sykes
Intelligence Specialist Ryan Sykes is one of our young lions, and you need to know his story. It allows us to place the little travails of life in perspective, and demonstrates the courage of ordinary life sometimes requires, and the power of love.
Ryan and his gallant wife Jen are fighting a long fight down in Richmond, one that began early last month while Ryan was assigned to Navy Special Warfare Development Group and on deployment to Afghanistan.
Jen’s words will have to tell you the story, since Ryan cannot: “Ryan was riding a dirt bike to chow hall early Monday morning Afghanistan time. It was still dark out and he hit a pipe (or something) in the road. He flipped off the bike and landed primarily on his left side. He was alone when this happened and it took a little while for someone to find him. It was very cold out and he was suffering from hypothermia when they got him to the hospital. But, that is a good thing. It probably kept his brain from swelling due to the impact.
He suffered injuries to his left orbital bone (the bone around your eye) and some trauma to the left eye. The seriousness of his eye injury is still being determined. They thought his left arm was broken, but it's not. It just has some serious "soft tissue" damage. Probably some bad bruising, scrapes, etc.
His left lung had collapsed, but it is now better. There is some pneumonia in the left lung now due to the fluid. But, they have a tube in place to drain the excess fluid. He is under heavy sedation to relieve any pain he might be feeling. But, they lowered the drugs enough this morning to see if he could react to physical tests (hand squeezing, toe wiggling, etc.). He passed those tests. So, his arms and legs still work fine.”
Since then, Ryan has passed through the wards of Walter Reed Army Medical Center and on to the Ryan is currently recovering from his accident at Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, VA, and he will be there, with Jen for an undetermined length of time.
Ryan’s military accomplishments are well documented. He is a former Chief of Naval Operations Junior Sailor of the Year award winner in 2003.
From Jen's blog you can see that he is making some real progress, but there is still a tough road ahead for this young couple. As Director of Naval Intelligence Tony Cothron said, “She has a great attitude and is getting incredible support from our intel team at DEVGRU. Capt Brett Heimbigner and CDR Curt Copley, his former, current bosses, told me Ryan was one of their very finest sailors, totally dedicated and a veteran of several deployments to the combat zone. Please keep him and Jen in your prayers.”
Jen would like to decorate Ryan's room with cards and pictures since he is going to be here for a little while. So, if you could, a card or a picture would to a long way to making his hospital room in Richmond more like home for them both.
If you would like to mail Ryan something, you can use the following address:
McGuire VA Medical Center
Ryan Sykes (Unit 2B-143)
1201 Broad Rock Boulevard
Richmond, VA 23249
Jen’s blog of courage is at: http://ryansykes.blogspot.com/
Copyright 2008 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
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