Recently friends of mine, Jeff and Vicki Baker of Fair Haven, traveled to San Antonio, Texas, to visit the Center for the Intrepid. Below is a retelling of what they saw while there.
The center is located at Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC), which is an impressive eight-story, multilinked building located at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. It is a 500-bed, level-one trauma center for treating amputees and burn victims, most of whom were injured while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. A few hundred yards from this mammoth complex stands the circular four-story Center for the Intrepid.
This bright pillar of stone and glass houses a world-class rehabilitation center dedicated to transitioning wounded warriors back into the community. It is a $60 million facility and was funded with private donations from private citizens. More than $600,000 was contributed to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and the center was built in a year's time.
CFI's facilities include a rock-climbing wall, Olympic and wave pool, track and wheelchair basketball court. There is a 360 degree virtual reality sphere for practicing balance, a driving simulator that can be customized to the operator's specific limitations and an unhandicapped accessible apartment to present real life situations that must be faced on a daily basis. Meeting rooms are all multimedia equipped, and prosthetics are designed and fitted on site.
A shaded walking path leads from the round building to the four Fisher Houses where up to 70 families can stay free of charge while their loved ones are in the program.
The Fisher Houses are part of the gift to our fallen heroes from a grateful public. The path is made of pavers engraved with thoughts and names of donors. There are several large stones denoting several $1 million contributions, but most are small with messages like: “God bless our heroes,” “thank you for your sacrifice” and “courage and compassion dwell here.”
Adrian is typical of those in the program. His legs were blown off in Ramadi. He has been attending the center for four months and feels ready to start navigating the world on his own. He was meeting his parents, who are staying at a Fisher House, for a shopping trip. An anonymous donor had sent him a Wal-Mart gift card, and he was excited to be able to go out into the city and shop for stuff he needed. He is glad his folks are close by, but his goal is to be completely independent.
Then there is the story of Merlin German who lost his hands and was burned over 97 percent of his body when an IED targeted his convoy in Iraq. He survived to endure more than 120 hours of procedures and months of painful rehabilitation.
It is heroes like Merlin that the Center for the Intrepid was created. Is it working? At a recent Brooke Army Medical Center formal gala, while the band played “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You,” 22-year-old Merlin danced with his mother.
What a tribute to our fallen heroes, and you can be a part of it too. Anyone looking for a way to say thank you to the brave men and women attending the CFI can do so by sending a Wal-Mart gift card or a donation to BAMC Fisher House. These can be sent to Norma Guerra, Public Affairs Office, BAMC, 3851 Roger Brooke Drive, Bldg 3600, Fort Sam, Houston TX 78234-6200.
In other news:
€ Do you believe that less than three weeks from now the days start getting shorter again?
Where does all the time go?
My husband and I attended the county Legislature meeting that was held in Emerson Park. It was Senior Citizen Recognition Day. They had a nice luncheon and then they gave out Cayuga County Senior Citizen of the Year awards to two most deserving seniors, Roy Compton of Moravia and our own Franklin “Buster” Lozier. Congratulations to you both.
€ Here in Fair Haven, we are all getting ready for our Fourth of July celebration. The SOFA committee has really worked hard on finalizing all the plans to make this another great Fourth.
This year, the celebration will run four days instead of the usual three.
It will kick off on Wednesday, July 4, with the boat parade on the bay. Thursday is the parade, which has grown larger every year, as well as the beginning of the carnival.
There will be a craft fair each day in the village park, and also live entertainment will be held nightly at the carnival grounds as well as a chicken barbecue.
Friday will be the annual smorgasbord at the community church. Saturday starts off with a bang; it's the 5K Run/Walk to benefit Hospice of the Finger Lakes. There will be a classic car show, a children's parade, matinee carnival, wall of fire, and the day ends with a bang also with the fireworks spectacular over the bay.
€ Also the Renaissance Festival is set to begin July 7. It runs weekends only for six weeks.
Nancy Webster lives and writes from the village of Fair Haven.
This bright pillar of stone and glass houses a world-class rehabilitation center dedicated to transitioning wounded warriors back into the community. It is a $60 million facility and was funded with private donations from private citizens. More than $600,000 was contributed to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and the center was built in a year's time.
CFI's facilities include a rock-climbing wall, Olympic and wave pool, track and wheelchair basketball court. There is a 360 degree virtual reality sphere for practicing balance, a driving simulator that can be customized to the operator's specific limitations and an unhandicapped accessible apartment to present real life situations that must be faced on a daily basis. Meeting rooms are all multimedia equipped, and prosthetics are designed and fitted on site.
A shaded walking path leads from the round building to the four Fisher Houses where up to 70 families can stay free of charge while their loved ones are in the program.
The Fisher Houses are part of the gift to our fallen heroes from a grateful public. The path is made of pavers engraved with thoughts and names of donors. There are several large stones denoting several $1 million contributions, but most are small with messages like: “God bless our heroes,” “thank you for your sacrifice” and “courage and compassion dwell here.”
Adrian is typical of those in the program. His legs were blown off in Ramadi. He has been attending the center for four months and feels ready to start navigating the world on his own. He was meeting his parents, who are staying at a Fisher House, for a shopping trip. An anonymous donor had sent him a Wal-Mart gift card, and he was excited to be able to go out into the city and shop for stuff he needed. He is glad his folks are close by, but his goal is to be completely independent.
Then there is the story of Merlin German who lost his hands and was burned over 97 percent of his body when an IED targeted his convoy in Iraq. He survived to endure more than 120 hours of procedures and months of painful rehabilitation.
It is heroes like Merlin that the Center for the Intrepid was created. Is it working? At a recent Brooke Army Medical Center formal gala, while the band played “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You,” 22-year-old Merlin danced with his mother.
What a tribute to our fallen heroes, and you can be a part of it too. Anyone looking for a way to say thank you to the brave men and women attending the CFI can do so by sending a Wal-Mart gift card or a donation to BAMC Fisher House. These can be sent to Norma Guerra, Public Affairs Office, BAMC, 3851 Roger Brooke Drive, Bldg 3600, Fort Sam, Houston TX 78234-6200.
In other news:
€ Do you believe that less than three weeks from now the days start getting shorter again?
Where does all the time go?
My husband and I attended the county Legislature meeting that was held in Emerson Park. It was Senior Citizen Recognition Day. They had a nice luncheon and then they gave out Cayuga County Senior Citizen of the Year awards to two most deserving seniors, Roy Compton of Moravia and our own Franklin “Buster” Lozier. Congratulations to you both.
€ Here in Fair Haven, we are all getting ready for our Fourth of July celebration. The SOFA committee has really worked hard on finalizing all the plans to make this another great Fourth.
This year, the celebration will run four days instead of the usual three.
It will kick off on Wednesday, July 4, with the boat parade on the bay. Thursday is the parade, which has grown larger every year, as well as the beginning of the carnival.
There will be a craft fair each day in the village park, and also live entertainment will be held nightly at the carnival grounds as well as a chicken barbecue.
Friday will be the annual smorgasbord at the community church. Saturday starts off with a bang; it's the 5K Run/Walk to benefit Hospice of the Finger Lakes. There will be a classic car show, a children's parade, matinee carnival, wall of fire, and the day ends with a bang also with the fireworks spectacular over the bay.
€ Also the Renaissance Festival is set to begin July 7. It runs weekends only for six weeks.
Nancy Webster lives and writes from the village of Fair Haven.
Citizen
Hot Jobs
The Citizens' Say
Post your comment - click hereThere are No comments posted.