Dec. 20, 2005
 
R.I. Youth Shows Soldier Amputees What is Possible
 
By Mark Patinkin
The Providence Journal
 
There is a small food court in the basement of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. I stood in line at the Dunkin' Donuts counter. Next to me, there was a young man without a leg and a young woman in a wheelchair who was also missing a leg. Nearby, I saw two other soldiers without limbs. All of them seemed upbeat, chatting and joking with fellow soldiers.
 
It struck me that those two things -- the price they've paid and the spirit they show -- tell you a lot about the men and women who are fighting the war in Iraq.
 
I had come to Walter Reed with Andrew Bateson and his parents. Andrew, who lives in Providence, R.I., is 14 and lost both legs to bacterial meningitis when he was 6. Today, he plays competitive ice hockey on two artificial legs.
 
Andrew was invited to the hospital in part because I recently wrote a book, "Up and Running," about him.
 
Walter Reed gets four VIP visits a day, many from celebrities. I expected we would be just another group to move through the pipeline. Instead, the commander of the hospital, Col. V.T. Deal, came out to meet Andrew. So did other senior staff.
 
Although it was cold, Andrew had arrived in shorts, with his alloy-rod legs visible. Deal told him that celebrities boost spirits, but Andrew was more than that -- a tangible example of hope.
 
Walter Reed has treated more than 4,600 Iraq wounded since the war began. That number includes almost 400 amputees -- an unusually high percentage. Roadside bombs are more likely to cause limb loss, and body armor has helped more of the wounded to survive.
 
Andrew was escorted to the hospital's Amputee Center. More than 60 soldiers were waiting to meet him. Many were in wheelchairs. Just about all were missing at least one leg.
 
The staff asked Andrew and his parents, Rebecca and Scott, if they would say a few words. They talked about how Andrew, against his mom's advice, first put inline skates on his prosthetic legs, crawled to their white picket fence, and spent hours each day holding on to it to teach himself to skate.
 
A few of the soldiers asked if they could see how he does it. There in the Amputee Center, Andrew put on Rollerblades and began to skate around the tables, wheelchairs and rehab machines.
 
Afterward, many of the soldiers clustered around Andrew, asking if he would sign their books. More than one asked about his skating and said, "Maybe I can do that some day."
 
Next, we were escorted to the hospital rooms.
 
We were introduced to Maurice, 31, a gunner in an up-armored Humvee that was blown up by an IED. Maurice lost one leg below the knee. He had recently gotten a skin graft on his thigh. It was hard to look at.
 
A fellow patient -- a sergeant named Patrick -- wheeled into the room and the two talked.
 
"No matter how much armor you have wrapped around," he said, "what's coming through is coming through."
 
Both said they still believe in the mission.
 
"I'm proud of what I did," said Maurice. "When I was over there, I saw the people, the kids, the wives, the men who were honest. They needed our help."
 
He told Andrew his book was an inspiration to him.
 
Maurice said: "When I'm up on those parallel bars sweating and crying, I'll think of you."
 
Ron, 25, and a staff sergeant, was in the final room of our tour. He was missing both legs, one above the knee, one below. He too had been in an up-armored Humvee.
 
He also lost the thumb and the small finger on his right hand.
 
"I'm doing good," he said. "I'm just happy I'm not in a box. And I got my new right leg already. My left leg is coming soon."
 
On the way out, Andrew and his parents paused at the main Walter Reed office to say goodbye. A soldier missing a leg came down to talk to him about playing hockey. Col. Deal came out of his office, and so did other staffers and some amputees, all wanting their books signed.
 
Andrew stood among them on his alloy-rod legs, an example of all that is possible.
 
Mark Patinkin can be reached at mpatinkin(at)projo.com
 
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