thedrifter
03-23-09, 05:46 AM
Marine struggles with post-war injuriesAlex Byington
The Daily Times
Published March 23, 2009
Four years ago, Steven Schulz was a muscled infantryman in the Marine Corps serving his second tour of duty in Iraq.
“I was a ‘grunt’ — I shot people, many times,” Schulz recalled proudly.
Now, at 24, the former Lance Corporal battles just to stand up by himself.
“I depend on the help from others just to get me through the days,” he said.
Schulz, from Friendswood, was one of the injured veterans honored at the 2nd annual “Wounded Warriors, A Tribute to the Troops” fund raiser hosted by Riverhill Country Club on Saturday and Sunday.
The event featured veterans from World War II and Vietnam, as well as military dignitaries and actor R. Lee Ermey.
“This is the one thing Steven has, where he can come to these events and he’s recognized a little bit for what he’s done for this country and what he’s given up and what his family has given up,” said Schulz’s father, Steve Sr. “People need to see that and people need to remember that it’s not just a political climate in this country — it’s real people out there getting shot and killed everyday fighting for this country.”
Walking with a cane and sporting a device around his neck that sends an electronic pulse that allows his left leg to function properly, Schulz constantly depends on others to do even the simplest tasks.
“It’s just kind of difficult — it’s hard to get a date,” Schulz deadpanned.
Out on a routine patrol in April 2005, an improvised explosive device — a remote-controlled IED — went off several feet from the humvee in which he was riding near Falluja. Although much of the shrapnel was caught by the armored exterior of the vehicle, several pieces broke through the passenger-side window, including a large piece that entered Schulz’s right eye and separated the middle cerebral artery in his brain. Several smaller pieces also were lodged in his forehead. In his own words, he suffered a “traumatic brain injury and blindness in my right eye.”
“It’s changed (my life) tremendously. I have to regain all sorts of abilities that I lost — the ability to walk by myself again. It’s a very difficult battle I’m trying to wage every day,” Steven said
Steven requires a primary caregiver at all times, a job his mother, Debbie, took over and for which she left her job as a high school teacher.
“People shadow me everywhere I go to make sure I don’t fall, make sure I’m safe,” Steven said.
Still, Steven tries to maintain some sense of normalcy, despite his less-than-normal circumstances, like getting out to attend events like Wounded Warriors. Although he can’t play a round of golf yet, Steven still made his rounds during Sunday’s golf scramble, driving the course in a customized Subaru WRX golf cart he received for Christmas in 2006.
“It’s really nice and really helpful, I’m enjoying it a lot — I can’t thank these people enough,” Steven said.
Originally given a bleak outlook for survival, Steven would have to endure more than 40 hours of invasive brain surgery and a total of 16 surgeries. Taken to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. less than 72 hours after the incident, Steven spent more than six weeks there and was in a coma for more than 30 days. He also went into cardiac arrest and had to have his heart shocked back to life while in the middle of a lobotomy.
“The doctors told us that there wasn’t much of a chance that he was going to live, simply from the brain swelling and all of the injury, but he proved them wrong,” Steve Sr. said.
In order to best access his brain, doctors in the beginning were forced to remove his skull cap, implanting it into his abdomen to keep it in good condition for replacement later.
“He’s a completely different person. It’s a life-changing event for him and our family and everybody that knew Steven,” Steve Sr. said. “... He had wires coming out of every freaking part of his body, iron-things out of his brain and head ... We could recognize him as Steven, but he was certainly a different young man than we left at the airport.”
Enlisting in the United States Marines after graduating high school, inspired by the events of September 11, 2001, Steven often dreams of getting back into the service, holding no ill-will for his current situation.
“It’s a brotherhood that I love being a part of now,” Steven said. “... I would do it again if I could — in a heartbeat.”
Ellie
The Daily Times
Published March 23, 2009
Four years ago, Steven Schulz was a muscled infantryman in the Marine Corps serving his second tour of duty in Iraq.
“I was a ‘grunt’ — I shot people, many times,” Schulz recalled proudly.
Now, at 24, the former Lance Corporal battles just to stand up by himself.
“I depend on the help from others just to get me through the days,” he said.
Schulz, from Friendswood, was one of the injured veterans honored at the 2nd annual “Wounded Warriors, A Tribute to the Troops” fund raiser hosted by Riverhill Country Club on Saturday and Sunday.
The event featured veterans from World War II and Vietnam, as well as military dignitaries and actor R. Lee Ermey.
“This is the one thing Steven has, where he can come to these events and he’s recognized a little bit for what he’s done for this country and what he’s given up and what his family has given up,” said Schulz’s father, Steve Sr. “People need to see that and people need to remember that it’s not just a political climate in this country — it’s real people out there getting shot and killed everyday fighting for this country.”
Walking with a cane and sporting a device around his neck that sends an electronic pulse that allows his left leg to function properly, Schulz constantly depends on others to do even the simplest tasks.
“It’s just kind of difficult — it’s hard to get a date,” Schulz deadpanned.
Out on a routine patrol in April 2005, an improvised explosive device — a remote-controlled IED — went off several feet from the humvee in which he was riding near Falluja. Although much of the shrapnel was caught by the armored exterior of the vehicle, several pieces broke through the passenger-side window, including a large piece that entered Schulz’s right eye and separated the middle cerebral artery in his brain. Several smaller pieces also were lodged in his forehead. In his own words, he suffered a “traumatic brain injury and blindness in my right eye.”
“It’s changed (my life) tremendously. I have to regain all sorts of abilities that I lost — the ability to walk by myself again. It’s a very difficult battle I’m trying to wage every day,” Steven said
Steven requires a primary caregiver at all times, a job his mother, Debbie, took over and for which she left her job as a high school teacher.
“People shadow me everywhere I go to make sure I don’t fall, make sure I’m safe,” Steven said.
Still, Steven tries to maintain some sense of normalcy, despite his less-than-normal circumstances, like getting out to attend events like Wounded Warriors. Although he can’t play a round of golf yet, Steven still made his rounds during Sunday’s golf scramble, driving the course in a customized Subaru WRX golf cart he received for Christmas in 2006.
“It’s really nice and really helpful, I’m enjoying it a lot — I can’t thank these people enough,” Steven said.
Originally given a bleak outlook for survival, Steven would have to endure more than 40 hours of invasive brain surgery and a total of 16 surgeries. Taken to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. less than 72 hours after the incident, Steven spent more than six weeks there and was in a coma for more than 30 days. He also went into cardiac arrest and had to have his heart shocked back to life while in the middle of a lobotomy.
“The doctors told us that there wasn’t much of a chance that he was going to live, simply from the brain swelling and all of the injury, but he proved them wrong,” Steve Sr. said.
In order to best access his brain, doctors in the beginning were forced to remove his skull cap, implanting it into his abdomen to keep it in good condition for replacement later.
“He’s a completely different person. It’s a life-changing event for him and our family and everybody that knew Steven,” Steve Sr. said. “... He had wires coming out of every freaking part of his body, iron-things out of his brain and head ... We could recognize him as Steven, but he was certainly a different young man than we left at the airport.”
Enlisting in the United States Marines after graduating high school, inspired by the events of September 11, 2001, Steven often dreams of getting back into the service, holding no ill-will for his current situation.
“It’s a brotherhood that I love being a part of now,” Steven said. “... I would do it again if I could — in a heartbeat.”
Ellie