Helping Hands

摘要

On oct. 20, 2006, an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded near Army Staff Sgt. Brian K. Pearce's Humvee, sending more than 30 pieces of shrapnel into his vehicle. One piece penetrated his skull, causing a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that left him nearly blind and deaf. Pearce's wife, Angie, enlisted a friend to care for the couple's two children so she could fly to Washington, D.C., to be by her husband's side as he received treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC). In December 2006, Brian was moved to the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, Va., one of four VA polytrauma centers that care for veterans and servicemembers with multiple traumatic injuries.