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CHARITIES HELP VETERAN RECOVER USE OF HER LEGS --

"The physical therapist is absolutely fantastic. She believes

Mariela is going to walk. That makes a difference."

 

 

While these wonderful charities are to be praised for their work, this should NOT be happening.

The VA should be covering all expenses for this veteran's rehabilitation.

Story here... http://www.insidebayarea.
com/trivalleyherald/localn
ews/ci_6493517

Story below:

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Donations help veteran recover use of her legs

Doctors had said Livermore woman would never walk again

By Jennifer Gokhman, STAFF WRITER

Spc. Mariela Mason spent the night at her parents' home in Livermore last weekend for the first time since December 2004, when she was hit by a car in Kuwait during her second tour of duty in Iraq.

Since then, she's stayed in veterans' hospitals from Washington, D.C., to Palo Alto and in a nursing home in Livermore.

She was in a coma for seven months, and after she awakened she was told she would never walk again.

But thanks to generous donors and the support of the community, she is already moving around with the aid of a walker. Although the physical therapy she receives at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Palo Alto is free, the donations help her see a private physical therapist and get other alternative therapies, which cost about $2,500 a month.

"The donations are amazing," her mother, Lisette Meylan, said. "Everything is helping."

Mason returned to Iraq in November 2004 for her second tour of duty as a heavy equipment truck driver, carrying tanks, trucks and cars to be repaired.

"It was hot. We were all ready to go (home), but we knew we had to be there — just do what we had to do and get out."

She was in a convoy in Kuwait on Dec. 19. One of the trucks had a flat tire, and she went to fix it. She was just about finished when struck by a passing car, which hit three other people as well.

Meylan and her husband, Emile, were told their daughter would never awaken from her coma.

"The Army gave up on her," Meylan said.

Mason has received donations from such organizations as The Women Overseas Service League and the Soroptimist club of Livermore.

The Bay East Realtors donated $10,000, and the Tennis Club in Livermore is having a fundraiser for her in October.

The Blue Star Bikers of Oakley visit area VA hospitals every week.

"They're so supportive of Mariela. They've been wonderful," Meylan said.

Cathleen Cordova of the Bay Area unit of the Women Overseas Service League said the league made a donation after seeing a newspaper article about Mason.

"We decided to look her up and see what she needed," Cordova said.

She had the chance to meet Mason at a nursing home in Livermore, where Mason lives when she's not at the VA hospital in Palo Alto. Cordova said Mason's recovery so far is outstanding.

"What bothers me is the Veterans Administration can't pay for" the therapy she needs, Cordova said. She added that the league plans to lobby Congress about the matter.

Mason has received other kinds of support as well.

A family friend visits every few weeks to give Mason a pedicure and manicure and shave her legs. Volunteers help Mason with paperwork.

While life for Mason and her parents hasn't been easy, Meylan hopes that Mason will be able to live independently in three years.

Mason is married and has a 3-year-old daughter, Jaela. Her husband and daughter live on the East Coast, near his parents.

Meylan said Mason tried a lot of jobs before joining the Army.

"It was the best thing she did. It helped with discipline and self-confidence," she said. "She didn't go in for the fighting, but for the teamwork."

Mason has made a lot of progress in the past six months. She has goals.

"The top is to be able to walk again," Mason said. "And to stop stuttering. It used to be bad."

"People are amazed," Meylan said. "They can't believe how well she is now."

A month ago Mason was doing so well with her physical therapist in Livermore that Meylan invited one of the doctors from Palo Alto to see her.

"She was in tears," Meylan said. "The physical therapist is absolutely fantastic. She believes Mariela is going to walk. That makes a difference."

In addition to physical therapy, Mason has a spiritual healer who does guided imagery to get her to visualize her future — or small goals, such as knowing when to use the restroom. She also goes to a cranio-sacral therapist and has had acupuncture. All of it has helped, Meylan said.

"I feel very good about my progress," Mason said.

To make a donation to the Women Overseas Service League for Mariela Mason, call Cathleen Cordova at (925) 846-4712.

Contact reporter Jennifer Gokhman at jgokhman@angnewspapers.com  or (925) 416-4821.

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Larry Scott  --