Update on Brendan

Good evening Ms. Russell,

I've been meaning to send out an update on Brendan, but just haven't done a very good job of that lately, thank you for the nudge.

Brendan is doing very well, this past Friday night we were able to get out of the hospital for the first time. We were able to attend a local baseball game here in Washington. He was reluctant to go at first, but after being urged to go, he seemed to enjoy it. Tonight he has gone out to dinner at a local restaurant with a group of other wounded warriors (amputees), hopefully it will go well and he will not be afraid of getting out in the future.

He is working very hard every day at physical therapy. He is stretching and exercising in order to build up as much muscle as he can in his thighs, mid-section and upper body. During PT he is also learning to walk again on "shorties". Those are short legs without a knee just to get him used to his body weight in the sockets and regain his balance while standing. At occupational therapy he is learning to care for himself and learning to use the "starter" arms.

The left eye has shown some improvement and our hope is that it will continue to improve in the coming year.

We are hoping that he is discharged from the hospital this week, medically there is no reason for him to be hospitalized, we are simply waiting for housing here on post. We were told that it will be available this week. Once he is discharged his brother Michael will live with him and be his non-medical attendant and Michelle and I will return home. We will then alternate weekends to give Michael a break and speak to the therapists and doctors weekly.

Please feel free to share this email with Jim and Ed and once again, thank you very much for your prayers and support.

Respectfully,

Alex (Brendan’s father)