My Story
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I grew up in Santa Clarita, California. It is in a valley about an hour north of Los Angeles. At the time it was quite small and rural. It has now grown into a fairly large successful city. Six Flags Magic Mountain is located here.
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I was the youngest of 4 kids and had 2 brothers and 1 sister. Like many SoCal kids, I grew up surfing in the summer. We camped at San Onofre State Beach or San Elijo State Beach in the summer. We took many day trips out to the Rincon area with my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins.
I attended Hart High school in Newhall, Ca where I played football freshman and sophomore years. I worked at Six Flags Magic Mountain, first as a ride operator and then as a ride foreman after a promotion, from the end of freshman year to the beginning of my Junior year. I met my future wife during this time when we both were working on the Riddler's Revenge ride. I stopped working during senior year of high school where I was concentrating most on preparing for the military. I graduated high school in 2002.
I subsequently joined United States Navy and shipped out to boot camp in November 2002. When I graduated boot camp I received my orders to attend Hospital Corpsman "A" school. While at "A" school I was accepted into dive motivator training sessions after passing the physical fitness test for acceptance into Navy SEAL training. Dive motivator sessions were held across the base from my school and from 3-5 in the mornings. During one of these sessions my hip popped and gave out. I rehabilitated my hip the best I could. I graduated from corpsman training in the top 3 of the class beginning of June 2003.
Instead of receiving orders to a ship or shore command, I was given orders to attend Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL school. Otherwise known as BUD/S. It is one of the most physically and mentally demanding courses the United states military has to offer. I was to muster up with class 247. It was the start of my second week there and still during PTRR phase, I had yet to even receive all my gear. I was running on the sand after work and my hip gave out on me again. After discussions with family, friends, doctors, and my class proctor it was decided that I would drop so I could take the proper time to fully rehab my hip before applying to try BUD/s again.
While waiting for my new orders I was assigned to X-div. This is where all BUD/S students go once they are dropped or cut from the program, whether voluntarily, medically, or involuntarily. It's generally a pretty easy gig of odd jobs around the school. I was selected to go to a compound a little further south where they taught sniper and close quarters defense tactics. Initially I was helping build a new kill house for the CQD side. There was a CQD drill and the instructors asked if we wanted to be part of the opposing force. I said, "Yes" and suited up with the minimal safety gear and was given my orders.
I was given the curveball position for the students to see how they'd handle a drunk passed out guard. During the drill I was hog tied multiple times, dragged by my collar to where I nearly lost consciousness, and occasionally left "passed out" and unguarded. During the times they left me free I was to walk in unarmed and unthreatening While they were confronting their targets. One time that happened I walked in and was summarily struck in the left temple with the muzzle of a rifle and lost consciousness. They were supposed to strike me in the front as padding and protection would make it ok.
The TBI has left many lasting consequences for me. I have serious daily headaches which are often debilitating and cause lots of nausea and vomiting, I honestly don't remember a time before my injury in 2003 where I didn't have a headache. I have memory issues (especially short term memory). I have a central auditory processing disorder which makes it difficult to understand what people are telling me, especially in noisy environments. I have neck and back pain as well as sleep issues, depression, anxiety, and a few other minor things.
After a year or so of many different treatments the Navy decided to temporarily retire me in November 2004, after little more than 2 years into my career. I moved to San Luis Obispo where I bounced from job to job, unable to maintain employment due to my issues. I tried to attend school at Cuesta Community College but could not continue as my issues made attendance near impossible. Many different treatments also failed during this time. Finally in 2009 the Navy decided my condition was not going to improve and they permanently retired me.
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I had brain surgery in 2010. It did not markedly improve my condition. However, my neck was worse off. I spent almost a year trying to rehabilitate my neck and improve my headaches but did not get improvement. Finally in 2011, with no more treatment options to improve my situation, I admitted to myself that I was indeed disabled and unable to work. I applied for increased disability.
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After a long two year wait I was finally given a decision by the VA. They denied my case. I had multiple doctors reports, hundreds of pages of corroborating evidence, and more. But still was denied. At this point the stress was too much for me and I sought legal help. My lawyers filed the appeal and after almost 3 years after the initial denial I was finally given a new decision. 90% Permanent disability and Individual Unemployment which makes it count as full disability. My times of struggling to barely survive were over.
One advantage to the long wait was the back pay I was given dating all the way back to when I first filed my application. With that money and the benefit of a VA home loan my wife and I purchased a house that would have otherwise been well outside our reach. We have a place to call home.
One advantage to the long wait was the back pay I was given dating all the way back to when I first filed my application. With that money and the benefit of a VA home loan my wife and I purchased a house that would have otherwise been well outside our reach. We have a place to call home.
I'm now maintaining the house the best I can and trying to find purpose. I joined the military to help people. And I personally know how much disabled veterans need help. I've been searching for a way to help for a long time but with my disabilities, my capacity to help is seriously limited. After a lot of thought I may have come up with something. Here is my plan.
My wife means so much to me that a few blurbs here and there in this section just didn't feel like it did enough justice to how important she is to me. So I have a page where I will tell our story. That page is My Everythings.
