USSOCOM Care Coalition: 3 Tour Airborne Ranger Amputee

Tom Deierlein is a certified peer mentor for USSOCOM Care Coalition.  He mentors other wounded SOF.  TDF also partners with them for cases outside the scope of other benevolent organizations and charities.

In 2015 we came across a 3 tour Army Ranger amputee. He and his family were going through some tough times and could use some support. He was not one to ask for help but since he lost his job they needed about $5,000 to wrap up some bills and get back on his feet.

In his own words:

My current situation is basically that I can’t get a job and I have been trying for months and due to loss of income I’m really struggling, on the verge of losing my House and our car because we have missed the last 2 months on house payments and 3 months on the car.

I had a job in sales/customer service but it required me to be up on my feet all day which I like to do but my leg cannot do it anymore. I have had problems with the end of my leg where the amputation is just below the knee. I had to have a revision after my first amputation because of infection, the infection spread throughout all the muscle and tissue below the knee so they had to remove all of that. Now since I have no tissue or muscle its just skin over bone and nerves and being up on my leg or wearing for more than a couple hours at a time causes ulcers at the very end of the leg where i put pressure on it and the skin splits open exposing the bone, so the Dr. will have me keep the prosthetic off until it is completely healed which takes a while.

So my Dr. said it would be best to get a job where I can be sitting, so I have been looking and apply for new jobs every day and this has been going on since September and I’m having no luck with jobs at all, I even have a job recruiter and she has come up with nothing either. I really don’t know what to do, this whole situation is a mess I want to get it all cleaned up if I can. Im diagnosed with PTSD, depression and anxiety disorders and these symptoms get the best of me most of the time just making the current situation worse, I don’t really know how to explain the PTSD its just pretty tough and I’m overwhelmed and need help. All I want to do is be able to take care of my beautiful wife and two kids. They are what keep me going and the reason I’m here still standing today. I’m not a person to really ask for anything even help when I need it so it’s  pretty depressing to me to have to do this, but I will do whatever it takes to keep my family financially stable because sadly when I suffer they do too and I might deserve it but they definitely do not. I hate having to ask for help because so many people are way worse off than me. I’m sure there is plenty more I should be telling about but at the time this is my situation. I really do appreciate any help and even just taking the time to simply read about my current situation, which I believe will be just a bump on the road and easy to overcome if I can get back on my feet again.”

His Thank You note:

“I’m the wounded soldier from the 1st Ranger Battalion. My family and I wanted to Thank You and your organization for helping us out financially. I have the perfect little family with my beautiful wife and two little boys and we have had a rough time since I got shot December 2, 2009. It has been a constant uphill battle physically, financially, and most of all mentally as I’m sure you see a lot of with your organization. If it weren’t for people and organizations like you veterans would have it so much worse off. The civilian world seems to be hard for me and I’m sure other wounded veterans because they don’t understand the constant battle that we fight everyday physically and mentally. Anyway, I just wanted to say Thank You for helping me get back on my feet again, words really can’t describe how thankful we really are.”