Post by Moses on Jan 15, 2006 9:21:09 GMT -5
Injured Marine showing progress
By Sandy Miller
Times-News writer
TWIN FALLS -- "Don't eat the green Jell-O."
That was the doctor's advice to Marine Cpl. Travis Greene on Thursday afternoon, according to his parents, Terry and Sue Greene.
Greene, 24, a 1999 Twin Falls High School graduate and a star on the Bruin track and field team, lost both of his legs in an explosion Dec. 7 in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, just west of Baghdad, and is now recovering at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. One Marine was killed and three other Marines and one Navy corpsman were badly injured and are recovering at the same hospital as Greene.
The Marine continues to make improvement, according to the family's CaringBridge Web site. His temperature is down and his legs are beginning to heal. He might even be strong enough to move out of intensive care soon and join his fellow Marines and the Navy corpsman on the hospital's surgical wing.
Greene has had numerous surgeries and has required an enormous amount of blood since he was injured. The American Red Cross of Greater Idaho held a blood drive for Greene on Wednesday at his alma mater, Twin Falls High School. A total of 95 people donated blood in Greene's name and others signed up for an upcoming blood drive in February.
"It was a great turnout," said Jane Stutzman, blood donor recruitment supervisor for the Red Cross of Greater Idaho.
When Greene is out of the woods, he'll head to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., or Brooke Army Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, to begin physical therapy and to learn to walk again on prostheses.
Greene was on his third tour of Iraq when he was injured. He was recently awarded the Purple Heart and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.
Times-News writer Sandy Miller can be reached at 735-3264 or by e-mail at smiller@magicvalley.com.
As Marine Cpl. Travis Greene recovers at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., friends and strangers alike have written messages of support in his guestbook on the family's CaringBridge Web site. Greene's parents also provide daily updates on their son's condition. To read more, or to leave a message, go to the Web site at www.caringbridge.org and click on "visit." In the first box, type "travisgreene" and click again on "visit."
Story published at magicvalley.com on Saturday, January 14, 2006
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