A Marine is on the road to recovery at Walter Reed
By ERIN JAMES
Evening Sun Reporter

Article Launched: 05/11/2008 04:06:07 AM EDT


The pain reads like a book on the face of this United States Marine.

Between winces and words he later apologizes for using, David Borden struggles to move leg muscles that have not supported his weight in months.

Sometimes the pain is so bad his attention focuses entirely on fighting through it.

The flesh where his right leg was amputated from the knee down felt like it was on fire, Borden said during one of his most recent physical-therapy sessions.

It has been nearly four months since a suicide bomber detonated an explosive near the 27-year-old Delone Catholic High School graduate in Ramadi, Iraq - a blast that took the life of another Marine and injured three others.

And though Borden is expected to make a full recovery, progress is slow while he lives as a patient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

He has already undergone 18 operations and still cannot sit up.

Second Lt. David Borden was leading a platoon of about 40 Marines through Ramadi when fighting broke out between them and a group of insurgents.

When the bomb went off, few parts of Borden's body escaped injury.

His right foot was blown off by the blast, and doctors later amputated from the knee down. Both of his forearms were broken, the left one shattered. He suffered a collapsed lung, a ruptured bladder and the loss of hearing in his left ear. About 150 ball bearings struck him all over his body, many of which remain embedded in his skin.

His
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father, David Borden Sr., expects his son will undergo at least four more operations.

But the younger Borden - now a 1st lieutenant and a recent recipient of a Purple Heart - says he is nothing special, that he is not deserving of the attention his service and injuries have subsequently brought him.

Borden will tell you he is just "fine."

And asked whether the price he has already paid to serve his country was worth it, he does not miss a beat.

"I'd do it again," he said.

The session is nearing its end, and physical therapist Laura Friedman tells Borden she is encouraged by the day's progress.

She expects he will be able to stand soon.

Considering the pain the Marine has just endured doing exercises in a horizontal position, no one could have blamed him for balking at the suggestion that he could stand for the first time in almost four months.

But he did not even hesitate.

"I have an urge to do it," he said. "I've been thinking about it all weekend."

"I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A MARINE"

David Borden Sr. does not pretend to understand what it is about the Marines that inspired his son to sign a contract for four years of service - something he called his son's "lifelong ambition."

The Bordens are not a military family, and neither father nor son could cite a specific reason for why a recent college graduate like David would want to join the military during wartime.

"He just believes in it," the elder Borden said.

At least one thing is for sure - life in the Marine Corps was by no means a last resort for David Borden.

He graduated in 1999 from Delone Catholic High School, where he played basketball and football. He attended Kutztown University, played wide receiver on the school's football team and earned a degree in finance and marketing. Later, he landed a job at Cintas, a uniform manufacturing company.

But the former football player said he had plans beyond college and the work force.

"I always wanted to be a Marine," he said.

His father said the family supported the decision even if they did not completely understand it.

"We were worried, proud, but very supportive - knowing he was doing something that he wanted to do," he said.

But just five months after the Marines deployed Borden to Iraq, the family's worry that something might happen converted into a need to cope with what already had.

While in Iraq, Borden's platoon had been charged with training Iraqi police and security forces in the Ramadi region. The Marines were "conducting security operations" when insurgents struck Jan. 19, Borden said.

Before the blast, Borden would have said the possibility of being hurt or killed in Iraq was no deterrent to fulfilling his lifelong ambition.

"It doesn't really cross your mind," he said.

The injuries Borden suffered during his tour in Iraq now dominate life for himself and for many of his family.

When his son was injured, Borden Sr. said the family was immediately notified.

He and David's mother, Tina, have been at his side ever since.

They often take turns, splitting time between home and Walter Reed to be with their son.

"If one leaves, the other one stays," Borden Sr. said.

"THEY'LL BE RUNNING"

On the table next to where Borden is fighting through painful physical therapy sits a double amputee, a man who cannot be more than 25 years old. Another man, whose prosthetic leg is hidden beneath his clothing, walks on a nearby treadmill.

Lining the walls are various pieces of state-of-the-art exercise equipment - most geared to the rehabilitation needs of amputees.

This is the room where David Borden is learning how to move again.

In this room, Borden spends about two hours a day on physical and occupational therapy.

Having lost 80 pounds since January, nearly every muscle in Borden's body is weak from his injuries and numerous operations.

But his father is optimistic.

In fact, he boasts about the care his son is getting, and he willingly volunteers tours of the facility.

"The therapists here are the best in the world," Borden Sr. said. "You'll see people here that have lost both legs ... and they'll be running."

With a look of promise on his face, the elder Borden points to a spherical apparatus only a state-of-the-art rehabilitation facility would employ.

The purpose of this particular equipment is to aid amputees in getting back their golf swing. And Borden has every intention of seeing his son use the technology to re-learn how to swing a golf club.

When the center opened, 500 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who lost limbs or the function of a limb had already been treated at Walter Reed.

Officials determined there was a need for the amputee-treatment center, despite the government's plan to close Walter Reed in 2011. The center was designed so equipment can be moved easily to another location.

Like the golf aid, most of the equipment here is still beyond Borden's ability to use.

But the center serves as a constant reminder of what Borden is expected to accomplish in the coming months.

Inside the multimillion-dollar Military Amputee Training Center - which opened last fall - sits a foosball table and rock-climbing apparatus, just a few of the center's equipment for amputees to gain confidence in their abilities.

A shooting-range simulator is there for soldiers and Marines who plan to return to active duty.

Downstairs is a room with 25 cameras - not for surveillance, but for observing an amputee's movement, so prosthetics can be fit accurately.

A virtual-reality simulator - of which the elder Borden brags there are only two in the world - waits for the day the injured Marine will be able to fine-tune his balance with the new technology.

And someday soon, Borden's father expects his son to look very much like the man on the treadmill.

"His chances of walking and not even having a limp are very high," he said.

PRAYERS AND PROGNOSIS

Another year could pass before Borden moves to a permanent residence outside the campus of Walter Reed - a facility no visitors can enter without having first volunteered personal information and displayed photo identification.

The security red tape has not kept Borden's family and friends from visiting, however.

And those who have not visited have shown their support in other ways - most recently through a prayer service at Delone organized by family friends.

Among the notes written to him at the service by family members, friends and complete strangers are, "David, hang in there, big guy. Better days are ahead" and "Thank you for your dedication, courage and sacrifice for our country and the Iraqi people."

Borden may no longer be fighting for his life, but many months of challenging therapy and at least four more operations lie ahead.

He calls it a "small challenge."

In terms of recovery, Borden said his personal goal is to someday walk without any noticeable deviation in his step.

"There isn't going to be anything that stops me or prevents me," he said.

Though his son remains a live-in patient at the hospital, Borden Sr. said he expects Borden will be able to visit home on the weekends once he is able to move himself into a wheelchair.

That is another challenge Borden will have to overcome - something just as difficult, if not more, as regaining the ability to stand that he so badly wants.

As for the future, the younger Borden said he has every intention of remaining an active-duty Marine during and after his rehabilitation.

"I signed the contract for four years," he said. "I'll fulfill that obligation."

And for those who are praying for him, Borden said he would like them to know "there's nothing to be worried about."

"I'll be the same person I was," he said.

Contact Erin James at ejames@eveningsun.com.

Ellie