Marine amputee is learning how to live again

[thedrifter]

Marine amputee is learning how to live again

San Antonio man thrives after land mine incident
By Amy Dorsett


SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Sunday, July 27, 2003

SAN ANTONIO -- A cane in his hand, a computer in his titanium leg, Staff Sgt. Eric Alva is a Marine on the mend.

Three months after losing his right leg to a land mine in Iraq, Alva is walking once again, thanks to rigorous physical therapy, a state-of-the-art prosthetic leg and an unstoppable spirit.

His journey back to independence has had moments of disappointment, even doubt. But Alva, 32, is thriving.

His days at a San Antonio rehabilitation center are dictated by intense therapy sessions, where he's learning to use his new leg and strengthening his right arm, which was badly damaged by shrapnel.

A physical therapist stands close behind, holding onto a wide cloth belt around Alva's waist in case he loses his balance, while the Marine takes slow, calculated steps. His movements are jerky and awkward, but he slowly advances along a sidewalk.

"It gets frustrating," said Alva, a former marathon runner. "You want your leg back."

But in the next breath, he's more optimistic.

"It's becoming so natural," he said of walking, a task he's adapted to so quickly he's surprised even himself. "There were times that I never thought I'd be walking. I thought it would be eight to 12 months before I got out of the wheelchair."

Lisa Scott, one of Alva's physical therapists, said the Marine eventually will be able to do everything he did before, including driving and running.

"He's progressing great," said Scott, whom Alva jokingly refers to as his drill sergeant. "By the way he's walking now, he's going to be able to do anything he wants. He's got the courage to do anything."

Becoming a Marine


Along with his twin sister and an older sister, Alva was born and raised in San Antonio. He attended Southwest High School, where he served on the student council and played clarinet in the band, and he graduated in 1989. Wanting to see the world, he immediately made plans to leave home.

Without telling his mom, he went to a recruiting office for the Marines. At 5 feet 1 inch and 90 pounds, he made heads turn when he decided to enlist.

"When I went to my physical for the Marine Corps, they laughed at me when I walked into the recruiting station," Alva said. "They worked with me to gain weight."

Alva lifted weights and ate fast food to meet the Marines' qualifying weight of 102 pounds.

"It took me a good eight months to gain 12 pounds," he said. "I was always running; the weight wouldn't stay on."

His mother tried to talk her son out of military service.

"Eric has a mind of his own," said Lois Alva, whose husband, Fidelis, served in the Army during the Vietnam War and was involved in the 1968 Tet Offensive. "It's like reliving it. You wonder if you're ever going to see him again."

Eventually, Eric Alva was stationed in Twentynine Palms, Calif., where he worked in supply administration.

"I like to sum it up as, I get to spend the government's money," said Alva, who served as a supply chief.

When not working, Alva enjoyed scuba diving, skiing and marathon running, a hobby carried over from his high school days, when he was too small for many other organized sports.

War in Iraq


Earlier this year, Alva was deployed to the Middle East, where tensions were growing.

On March 21, the first day of the Iraq conflict, Alva was riding with a logistical convoy of about 50 Marine vehicles.

Three hours after crossing the border into Iraq, the vehicles pulled over into a desert field dotted with abandoned Iraqi barracks.

Learning that he'd get a two-hour break, Alva decided to warm up his MRE rations on the hood of his Humvee. As he walked back to the vehicle to get more supplies, Alva stepped on a mine. A medic rushing to his aid set off another mine, and the other Marines were ordered not to move.

Alva's right leg was shredded, his left leg broken. Shrapnel had badly injured his right arm and inflicted other injuries as well.

When he arrived at a Kuwait field hospital by helicopter, doctors were so concerned about his bleeding that they made a quick cut, lopping off the bottom part of his right leg.

He was transported to a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, where doctors worked to stabilize his condition, and then was sent to the Bethesda Naval Medical Center outside Washington.

He lacked enough muscle and tissue at the knee to fit a prosthesis, so doctors amputated Alva's leg above the knee.

While at Bethesda, Alva became somewhat of a celebrity. He appeared via satellite on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" and visited with first lady Laura Bush and President Bush, who awarded him a Purple Heart.

Some of the family's darkest days came at the Bethesda hospital.

"It was the most horrible time of my life," Lois Alva recalled. "I kept a journal of what we went through, and it was hell. Everyone was in a daze; we just kept going on coffee."

Meanwhile, Eric Alva was constantly monitoring TV coverage of the war, worried about the 11 junior Marines he had supervised -- the group he still refers to as "my Marines."

Lois Alva said her son and others were plagued by what-ifs.

"There were days when I did doubt my faith," she said. "I began to doubt myself."

On April 25, Alva arrived in San Antonio for more treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center. Last month, after undergoing eight surgeries since his injury, Alva was moved to HealthSouth RIOSA, a rehabilitation center near his parents' Medical Center apartment.

To walk again


After several fittings and adjustments, Alva received his prosthetic leg on June 20.

Immediately, therapists began having him walk between parallel bars to get a feel for his new leg. Within four days, he was walking around HealthSouth's grounds with only a four-pronged cane.

"My first instinct was, I was afraid I was going to fall," Alva said.

His days are spent in regimented sessions, from physical therapy to help with walking to occupational therapy, where his badly damaged right arm is stimulated with subtle shocks and he works to improve fine movements.

Alva was in danger of losing the arm, but it has been saved. He did lose the tip of his index finger and has no movement in his last two fingers. He's learning to write with his left hand but hopes to be able to use an adaptation gadget so he can return to using his right hand.

Alva is eager to progress to running. That will take a different type of prosthetic leg, which is being donated. His goal is to run the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington in October 2004.

For now, Alva is getting accustomed to his C-Leg, the titanium, computer-driven leg. The "C" stands for the computer inside, which reads his foot movements 50 times a second, making leg movements more like second nature and less like a thought process. The leg cost about $50,000 and can run for up to 72 hours without having to be recharged.

Alva wants to work as a physical therapist, helping other amputees. That's one of many decisions in his future. This much he knows: He won't be returning to live in California. After years of seeing the world, he wants to call San Antonio home again.

At the rehab center, Alva -- who's still on active duty -- zips through the halls on a motorized scooter, stopping frequently to chat.

Lois Alva said that when her son goes home, which should be in a month or so, the scooter will not go with him.

"It's leased; it's going back," she said confidently. "Eric is going to go back to as much a normal life as possible."

http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/...220af007d.html


Sempers,

Roger

[MillRatUSMC]

If they can give "bennies" to PFC Jessica Lynch.
Some company should donate a scooter to this young Marine.
IMHO

Semper Fidelis
Ricardo

[GunsUp]

Scooter, hell! Some corporation or business out there would benefit from this Marine's experience, motivation, and leadership.

I wish him and his family the best.


Semper Fi,

Scott

[MillRatUSMC]

Health insurance will keep this young man from working for any corporation or business.
I was let go from a job because at the time I had a 15% disability.
On re-entering the service, had to wave that disability.
Retained the rank, I was discharged with.
When they called in, the words were "Our insurance won't cover you because of your disability".
I was twenty then.
I thought that I was motivated and I was giving them, what I had given the Marine Corps but that wasn't enough for them.

Semper Fidelis
Ricardo

Semper Fidelis
Ricardo