Gift of new mobility

Christmas shopping just got a lot easier for Wes Hixon.

On Dec. 5, the 24-year-old disabled veteran received a retrofitted Chevy Uplander courtesy of Wheels for Warriors. Since 2005, this national program, an offshoot of Operation Support Our Troops, has given 17 vans to veterans who’ve been wounded while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. However, Dec. 5 marked the first time a recipient has been from the West Coast.

Program chairman Steve Middleton said the modified vans give paralyzed vets the freedom to do simple things, like go to the grocery store. He was part of the crowd that gathered at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center to present the vehicle to Hixon. “It was very emotional,” Middleton said.

Sharon Helman, director of the VA Medical Center, agreed. “The Patriot Guard was there and there were over 100 people in the lobby,” she said. “It was really neat. We’re giving a holiday gift that will keep on giving throughout the year.”

She said her staff appreciate the opportunity to be part of events like this. “Being able to help a young man have the freedom to get around again is meaningful,” she said. “It’s giving back to our nation’s heroes.”

According to Helman, the VA partners with Wheels for Warriors by paying for registration and insurance for one year, and by helping with any additional modifications. Middleton added, “Golden West Mobility of Spokane helped get the van ready.”

For Hixon, the gift brought early holiday cheer. “I’m happy that I get to go out,” he said. “Now I’m going to do some Christmas shopping!”

When he enlisted in the Army three years ago he couldn’t imagine the turn his life would take. “I thought I was bulletproof,” he said. He joined the military as a steppingstone to a wider career path. In addition, military service runs in his family. “I’m a third-generation soldier,” he said. “My grandfather served in World War II and my dad in Vietnam.”

After an uneventful 11 months stationed in Hawaii, Hixon was deployed to Iraq. “I was assigned to drive a Stryker,” he recalled. The armored, eight-wheeled vehicle is primarily used for troop transport.

On Feb. 8, 2008, he and nine other soldiers clambered aboard the Stryker and set out to clear a route for troops that were to follow. “The next thing I knew, I heard the sound of helicopters,” Hixon said.

They’d hit the pressure plate of an improvised explosive device. Hixon remembers nothing of the blast.

“Four people were killed outright,” he said. “The rest were injured. Me and another soldier were paralyzed. Most of them were pretty good friends of mine.”

From Baghdad he was flown to Germany, where doctors fought to stabilize him. It’s all unclear to Hixon. “Basically, the first few weeks were just a nightmare – one big hallucination,” he said.

He spent his 23rd birthday in the intensive care unit at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

The reality of his condition still hadn’t set in. “I thought it was a temporary thing,” he said. But when he was flown to Seattle for rehabilitation at the Puget Sound VA center, the truth of his situation rocked him. “That’s when it sucked,” he said.

Things grew grimmer when he returned home. “The worst was coming here to Spokane,” he said. “You look at your pictures …”

His voice trailed off. He closed his eyes briefly as he recalled his active youth. Equally painful was the discomfort some friends felt around him. Hixon said, “I tell them, ‘I’m the same person, I just broke my back.’ ”

But for some, seeing Hixon in a wheelchair proved too much. “I’ve got a lot of friends,” he said. “But not all of them have responded well to this thing.”

However, several have rallied to his side. Prior to receiving the van from Wheels for Warriors, Hixon depended on strong friends to pick him up and heave him into their cars when he wanted to leave the house. Now, he rolls his chair directly into the Uplander. When further modifications are complete, he’ll be able to drive himself wherever he needs to go.

For all his challenges, Hixon remains determinedly upbeat. “I just want to get walking,” he said. “I’m a stubborn person – I’m keeping my eye on the prize.”

In a few months, he’ll undergo a procedure to have stem cells implanted in his spinal cord in the hopes of repairing damaged nerves.

Asked what he wanted readers to know about him, he said, “Just tell them I’ll be on my feet soon.”