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    Raider Soldier on his way to recovery

    Raider Soldier on His Way to Recovery

    Courtesy Photo | U.S. Army 1st Lt. Christopher Nichols (left), a platoon leader with Company E, 3rd...... read more read more

    BAGHDAD—For one soldier of 1st Advise and Assist Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, the road to recovery has been a long one, with many obstacles. An improvised explosive device injured 1st Lt. Christopher Nichols, a platoon leader in Company E, 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, April 21, while on a convoy south of Joint Security Station Ur, severing an artery in his leg and causing a fracture.

    For his family, the journey has had many ups and downs.

    “We’re fine now,” said his mother, Donna Nichols. “We’ve had some really rough weeks. They warned us from the very beginning that there’d be ups and downs. The infections cause just as much damage as the explosions from IEDs. But time heals, and he’s actually starting to take a few steps.”

    Brig. Gen. Kevin Mangum, deputy commanding-central general for United States Division – Center, visited Christopher in July at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., to check on his progress as well as Spc. Matthew Corlew, with B Troop, 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment.

    “I started visiting Walter Reed in 2003,” Mangum said, “You can’t go to Walter Reed and not be inspired by both the care the Soldiers receive and the strength of the unit that shows support for the Soldiers who are there. 1st Lt. Nichols was fighting infection but getting much better when I visited him.”

    For Christopher, infection was just as devastating as the IED blast itself.

    “He’s had a really rough [few] months, but he’s in a good part right now,” Donna said. “He’s been battling infections, which has been the biggest problem since he got here in April. They started trying to reconstruct the leg, which meant fixing the artery in his leg because it was severed, then putting hardware in the bones and then tissue reconstruction. The problem is that he got a couple infections along the way, and so they had to take out [the metal rods and bolts they had put in], and that’s really what has caused such a long rehab. But he kept his spirits up.”

    However, Nichols was recently moved to the Malone House, an outpatient facility for Walter Reed.

    “He was in the hospital in Walter Reed for almost four months and just got released to the Malone House,” Donna said, “He goes back and forth every day for his appointments. His doctor at Walter Reed has just done so much; we actually took (our son) to a university in Maryland also for consult because his case was getting pretty complicated. They told us there that the work that had already been done at Walter Reed was pretty impressive, so I know his doctor has taken great strides to save his leg.”

    Donna said she was also grateful to Spc. Aaron Topolinski, a medic with E Company 3rd Bat., 69th Armor Regt., who tended to her son after the IED blast.

    “I’m just so thankful for his medic,” she said, “We thanked him by e-mail and we haven’t been able to talk to him in person, but I talked to his mother. He says he was just doing his job, but for me I know he saved my son’s leg and I feel like he saved my son’s life really, because he did have a severed artery. There aren’t any words; you are just so grateful.”

    But according to his mother, Nichols never anticipated being away from his soldiers for more than a couple of weeks.

    “He’s anxious to get back, ever since he got back he wanted to go right back to Iraq,” Donna said.” In fact, when he first called me from Baghdad he said, ‘Well, mom, I’m probably going to come home for a little while then I’m coming back.’ I don’t think he realized the severity of his injuries; he told me it was just a broken leg. He wants to get back to his guys, he loves his platoon. He has a long road ahead of him, but he’ll get there. He’s strong and he’s done everything that he’s put his mind to so far.”

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 09.29.2010
    Date Posted: 09.29.2010 06:46
    Story ID: 57165
    Location: IQ

    Web Views: 172
    Downloads: 23

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