My Brother-in-Law Bill

For those of you who don't already know, Aaron's brother, Bill, serving in Mosul, Iraq, was severely wounded when a uniformed Iraqi officer fired into a crowd of soldiers. Two men were killed and six were wounded. He is now here in the states at Walter Reed Hospital in DC. Bill was shot at least five times and sustained multiple injuries. He will have 12 weeks minimum rehabilitation time and has already gone through many surgeries. We thank God that Bill is alive and ask you to pray for his healing on all levels. His wife and parents are out there with him.

I'm pasting the latest update from Bob (Aaron's Dad) below.

"Dear Family,We are on our third day at Walter Reed. The Washington, DC area hotels are booked for some convention, or perhaps due to the upcoming inauguration -- in any event, they have put us up in the Navy Lodge at Bethesda Naval Base, which is not too far away, but a bit inconvenient, even though we have been provided free shuttle service.Bill was in surgery most of the day yesterday. It turns out that a lot of the information we got from the Army early on was incomplete or just plain wrong. As we reported earlier, Bill was shot at least 5 times. We don't know how many shots hit his body armor. According the surgeon who operated on Bill yesterday, the shot to his right leg shattered his femur about 4 inches above the knee. They implanted a titanium bar inside the two halves of the bone, and secured it with screws. New bone tissue will grow around this rod, which will remain in his leg for life. He has a huge and deep open wound on the front of his thigh, which will not be closed up for some time. They have installed a WoundVAC device (vacuum assisted closure) to keep the would clean and free of infection until the healing process begins. Eventually they will sew it up. He took another shot in his right hip that fractured his pelvis. That fracture does not require surgery, but it will take a while before it can bear weight.Then there was another shot in his left hip that hit his other femur just under the hip joint - they call it the femoral neck. This is actually the most serious fracture, because sometimes, if not treated correctly, the knob at the top of the bone will die. They pulled out the temporary steel pins that were installed at the field hospital, and replaced them with three stainless steel screws. He won't be able to bear weight on this for at least 12 weeks, and possibly as long as 5 months. A woundVac is also implanted in this wound.Yet another shot, in his right hip fractured his pelvis. This will require no particular treatment. There is a fragment of bullet metal near this fracture will remain there.He took a shot through his right arm near the elbow, but fortunately, it did not hit any bone and inflicted only minor nerve damage, from which he should fully recover. Another bullet hit his left him, pretty well shattering his middle finger. Yesterday, they undid the stitches and bone setting that had been done in the field, and more or less rebuilt it. They said they were going to call in a hand specialist.In addition to the stapled 10" incision running from his sternum to just below his navel, he also has two huge incisions on his right shin - one in back and the other in front, each about 10" long. Nobody seems to know why. He may have been hit there too, but no information on this came from theatre. He also suffered a "spinous process fracture" to his lower back. It should be okay.Bill will be an impatient here for probably a month, or so, and then will require many months of therapy to get him back up on his feet. That may happen here, in Texas, or perhaps somewhere in the Midwest.All in all, I am very much impressed with the quality of care he is receiving here, and they are treating us like a million bucks. We are confident he will come through fine -- he's got a great attitude, and is otherwise in great physical condition.Thank-you all, for your prayers, thoughts, and best wishes. I will keep you posted as I have opportunities to get on-line. As it is, my access is limited -- no wireless, or public connections are available. Rob. I have limited internet access here. Please forward this message to your brothers, and sisters-in-law. I have Mary's and Grandma's address committed to memory. - Bob"