Now he wears a different helmet: A veteran’s access to care

A bomb buried in the asphalt road hit Army Sgt. Michael Boothby’s Stryker military vehicle on Sept. 17, leaving three pieces of shrapnel in the back of his brain. Doctors removed nearly half of his skull to prevent permanent damage to his brain from swelling.

By December, he was back home in Kerrville, Texas. But there were problems with the V.A.—a mix-up with his patient number that delayed his therapy. He entered a rehabilitation hospital in San Antonio, where he has received physical, occupational and speech therapy.

Now he wears a padded helmet for protection. It makes his head sweat—but it’s not as hot as Iraq.

Advice for family and friends of brain-injured patients: These patients need an advocate to represent them, until they’re fully mentally competent.

Read another of our veteran’s stories, or John Tedesco’s source story on April 22 in the San Antonio Express-News.