The night before he was to enter a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, Army Pfc. Chris Eckert swallowed a pill prescribed to help him sleep without the nightmares that have tormented him since he left Iraq.
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writerPosted : Friday Mar 21, 2008 18:38:27 EDT
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/03/military_methadone_032108w/
Then, sitting in his barracks at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Jan. 17, he counted out seven methadone tablets and popped them into his mouth.
The next morning, his squad leader found him on the floor in a puddle of his own vomit, but still alive.
“They told me, ‘Your son is not going to make it,’ ” said Eckert’s mother, Rose Szymborski. “He was on life support for five days.”
Since June 2007, 11 troops have died in the Army’s Wounded Warrior units, according to Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, the Army’s Surgeon General.
Eckert’s mother blames the Army for not looking out for him, while Army officials say Eckert needed to do more to help himself. But both sides agree his case is an example of the difficulties of treating troops working through substance-abuse issues linked to post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries.
“I felt like my hands were kind of tied,” said Capt. Scott Beam, Eckert’s case manager. “In my heart ... I knew I had done all I could have.”
Szymborski said she tried to alert Eckert’s chain of command at the hospital that her son was dealing with symptoms of PTSD. He suffered nightmares, couldn’t handle loud noises and was angry. He told friends he was suicidal. He was abusing pain medications and alcohol.
Eckert was serving in Iraq in early 2007 when an IED blast killed his platoon sergeant and left him with a mild traumatic brain injury.
“He was getting worse by the week,” his mother said.
Click on link to read full account.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
OVERDOSE RAISES QUESTIONS AT WALTER REED
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I am the mother of this soldier. Unfortunately, some of the information the Army gave in this article is not true...imagine that! Hopefully the parts that are true will help shed light on this huge problem and this will be prevented in the future.
Dear Mrs. Szymbor: Thanks for writing. I hope your son is getting the help he so desperately needs. I'm a recovering alcoholic with 40 years of continuous sobriety with the help of AA so I'm well aware of the problems of substance abuse.
The link I provided in the article is for people who are interested in the full story, however I'm sure the Army didn't tell the whole truth. I was also in the Army during the Korean war so I know how things are handled in the military.
This is the part of the story that I wish I had included in the article:
Though Eckert lived through his overdose, all of his problems have not been resolved. He completed 28 days of rehab and did “really well,” Szymborski said.
She took him home to Albany, N.Y., in early March, after being told a Department of Veterans Affairs psychiatrist would see him. But his psych appointment is not until April 21, and he has had no follow-up since leaving rehab, Szymborski said.
She said her son’s case manager, Capt. Brian McMillion, kept reminding her that her son had access to emergency VA psychiatric care if needed.
“But it isn’t the same,” she said. “You’re not magically cured after 28 days of rehab, and you should not be going it alone for weeks with no professional support.”
She worries about the soldiers who remain at Walter Reed.
“Many soldiers I have met ... are addicted,” she said. “I don’t want anyone else to go through this. The things that happened with us could have easily been prevented.”
The staff at Walter Reed seems to agree, but also said much progress has been made in the year since the Wounded Warrior Brigade was stood up.
Still, McKenrick acknowledged, the job is far from finished.
“We are halfway there,” he said. “It continues to be a challenge.”
Please extend my best to your son and if he sincerely wants help I highly recommend he start going to AA or NA (Narcotics Anonymous) meetings in your area. I'm sure the Albany phone book has a phone number for both organizations.
Please write me at corkcol@aol.com if there is anything I can do.
Bill Corcoran
Post a Comment