Courtesy Photo | U. S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Joyce Bray poses for a photo with her husband, James Bray,...... read more read more
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RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany – Navigating a traumatic event requires a recovery plan unique to the individual. The road of self-care for one Airman means helping others understand help is never too far away.
U. S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Joyce Bray, Prince Sultan Air Base, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, noncommissioned officer in charge of the legal office, empowers herself with transparency as she shares her story of recovery.
June 2008, Bray left her home in Yokota Air Base, Japan, for pre-deployment training in Sembach Kaserne, Germany. The 21-day course was meant to prepare her for a security forces tasking to the International Zone of Baghdad. Her trip would culminate in a day-long, land-navigation training scenario at nearby United States Army Garrison Baumholder. After the training, Defenders boarded buses for an hour-long trek back to lodging – a trip which changed Bray’s life forever.
“When we were coming back down from the mountain, the bus I was in started to fill with smoke,” Bray said. “Then, we heard the bus driver yell that we needed to put our helmets back on.”
The bus began to slip on the roadway due to a brake failure, causing it to careen off the highway and overturn.
“When we launched, I ended up being thrown into the ceiling,” Bray said. “I crushed two vertebrae in my lower back and I couldn’t feel from my waist down. My shoulder got stuck in the seat and I tore some ligaments in my shoulder, and I couldn’t move my left arm.”
Suffering from a traumatic brain injury, Bray remembers of that day through a series of staggered memories. She remembers waking up on the bus after impact; recalls being outside the bus while occupants from the second bus cut off her uniform top to access her shoulder injury; and being transported in a helicopter.
“To say I was scared would not really describe what I was feeling,” Bray said. “I had no idea what had just happened. I couldn’t feel any physical pain, but mentally, I kept thinking ‘I’ll never walk or use my left arm again. This can’t be happening. This is just a terrible dream.’”
Senior Master Sgt. Thomas Grubbs II, Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, 628th Security Forces Squadron operations superintendent, was in charge of the Regional Training Center at the time, arrived on-scene and began to evaluate the injured students. Working with other cadre and students, they decided the need for four aeromedical evacuation units and 15 ground ambulances.
“We established a helicopter landing zone for four gravely injured students,” Grubbs said. “Bray suffered a broken back and stated she did not have feeling or movement in her lower extremities.”
Bray was airlifted to a German hospital. The experience was challenging due to a language barrier as well as the uncertainty of her condition.
“Nobody was speaking English,” Bray said. “I didn’t know where I was, or what happened. I could only move one arm … I thought I was never going to be able to move anything ever again.”
Upon learning of his daughter’s accident, Bray’s father worked with the American Red Cross to locate a translator to assist the hospital in communicating with his daughter. The translator brought a measure of comfort to Bray and assisted in helping her transition to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.
“It was the weirdest, but the greatest thing I’ve ever experienced,” the former Defender stated.
Over the next 13 years, Bray’s determination helped her forge a path forward in the recovery process, relying on community and self-care. Giving special credit to her family’s support, she used their commitment as inspiration to help herself and others grow.
“If it wasn’t for their support, who knows where I would be today,” Bray said. “They always made me feel like I was strong and I wanted to prove I was.”
It’s unnecessary to fear seeking help through mental health services or a visitation to the doctor, according to Bray. Confronted with new limitations, Bray had to consider the possibility of a career change.
“I kept telling myself, ‘I can do this. I can handle this.’ I had two spinal fusions and went in several times for physical therapy and back injections,” Bray said. “I kept trying to tell myself I wasn’t going to let this stop me. I wasn’t going to let this end my entire career because the military is everything I wanted to be.”
Through resilience and flexibility, Bray’s determination to continue serving was matched by the branch she remained deeply committed to.
“The Air Force didn’t give up on me,” Bray said. “They allowed me the opportunity to change jobs.”
Retraining as a paralegal in 2017, Bray met newfound success, which presented her new opportunities to come to terms with the accident.
“I’m thriving, doing great things, living life and enjoying my job,” she explained.
Recently, Bray was presented with an unexpected opportunity to participate as a legal advisor for a mass casualty exercise as part of her deployment training. During the pre-planning conference, she was chosen as a legal advisor for a bus accident scenario.
“I had a panic and freak-out moment where I couldn’t breathe,” she explained.
At the conference, Bray was accompanied by a Wingman, Tech. Sgt. Hisham Haddad, Host Nation Coordination Cell translator/cultural advisor, Prince Sultan Air Base, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to confront raw emotions she had been ignoring.
“He didn’t judge,” Bray said. “He just let me do what I needed to do. Then, he made me laugh. There are people out there who are just ready to listen to you.”
Bray participated in the exercise on Dec. 3, 2020, and used her experience to assist in the training. Lending her perspective as a survivor, the team was able to improve their accountability process for injured persons and reduce response time by 15 to 30 minutes.
Recently, Bray reached out to the 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs shop and asked for assistance in finding information regarding the accident.
Senior Master Sgt. Stacia Zachary, 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs Superintendent, was previously stationed with Bray at Little Rock, Arkansas. Along with a fellow local national employee, Sandra Archer, Zachary contacted the local Ramstein historians, tracked down articles covering the bus accident and sent them to Bray, as well as connected her with security forces Airmen who were there during the tragic event and still serving today.
“The gift of being in the military is the connections you form — they help you create a support network that spans the world,” Zachary said. “When she reached out to me, it was very important that I help her fill in the missing pieces; so many people jumped in to help.”
Grubbs uses his experience from that day when explaining the importance of Self-Aid Buddy Care and Tactical Combat Casualty Care classes.
“Staff Sergeant Bray wanted to piece together some of the puzzle because she wasn’t aware of what happened,” Grubbs said. “I was glad to hear she was doing well ... I knew she went back to her home station, but did not know how she recovered from this accident. It was great catching up and helping her get some answers she needed.”
Equipped with more insight into the accident, Bray made the decision to share her story. Helping others who have been impacted by hardship, Bray encourages them to seek professional help and embrace the concept of community.
“I think it’s important for people to know life is not a quick fix,” Bray said. “My accident happened in 2008. It’s 2021, and I’m still working through things, but it’s molded me into the person I am today.”
| Date Taken: | 02.18.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 02.18.2021 10:06 |
| Story ID: | 389273 |
| Location: | RP, DE |
| Web Views: | 614 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, After trauma: story of resilience, by SSgt Andrew Alvarado, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
Ramstein Air Base
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