‘I Had a Body Part Repossessed’: Post-9/11 Amputee Vets Say VA Care Is Failing Them
The concerns of veterans with prosthetics are now making their way to Capitol Hill, signaling a growing acknowledgment of VA shortcomings
August 6, 2024| Hope Hodge Seck
Travis Vendela died three times in triage and medevac, by his own account, after the lead Humvee he was directing in Iraq in 2007 drove over an improvised explosive device and blew off both of his legs.
Scott Restivo lost his right leg to infection and sepsis in 2018 after surgery to address injuries he suffered at Fort Drum, New York, and aggravated in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Bone cancer claimed Army parachute rigger Matt Brown’s left leg after he served for years at Fort Liberty, North Carolina.
Matt Brown gets assistance after the procedure to amputate his left leg at Duke Cancer Center in North Carolina on July 30, 2021. (Photo courtesy of Matt Brown)
Matt Brown gets assistance after the procedure to amputate his left leg at Duke Cancer Center in North Carolina in 2021. (Photo courtesy of Matt Brown)
There’s no question about what the three Army veterans gave up for their country. Now, still active and in the prime of their 40s, they’re fighting to make sure the country doesn’t give up on them.
From Utah to Tennessee to North Carolina, they say they are all experiencing similar frustrations with the dense bureaucracy and gaps in care for prosthetics and accessibility equipment provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Restivo has relied on duct tape and loaner legs since last year, awaiting repairs to a chip malfunction in his main prosthetic. Vendela bummed rides for months to the high school where he coaches football until a VA contractor finally installed the retrofits to help him drive his new truck. Brown was shocked when a vendor repossessed an ankle joint that improved his mobility because he said the VA hadn’t paid the bill.
https://thewarhorse.org/amputee-veterans-face-chronic-lack-of-va-care-prosthetics/
