Injured Iraq Vet Getting Brain Treatment in N.C.

Christina Cole — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 17:39:39 GMT

Walter Reed Army Medical Center has been all over the airwaves. The hospital has been harshly criticized for many problems.

It was announced Tuesday that Sgt. Dean Locke will be treated in a program that specializes in brain injuries in North Carolina.

Numerous reports say, in 2003, Locke was severely brain damaged in a Humvee accident. An evaluation of his condition then showed professionals thought his death would be within 72 hours. Locke survived, but his wife says the man she knew, her husband of 20 years, is dead.

His wife called numerous times to get him help because he was becoming more aggressive and they wouldn't put him in the psych ward. In November, he had hit his own son and reports show he had been violent before.

After the news aired stories about Locke and his situation, the Department of Social Services told him he could no longer live with his adopted children.

Based on advice from a brain injury specialist in Florida, his wife had been trying to get him placed in an assisted living facility. The doctor suggested he live in a residential program that specializes in brain injury, but Locke didn't qualify.

While the specifics cannot be discussed, the mental director at Dorn signed off this afternoon to send Locke to a brain rehab program in North Carolina for six month. One doctor admits that even intensive treatment might not be enough for patients that have suffered a severe brain injury.

Locke is expected to leave for the North Carolina facility by next Tuesday.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Christina Cole

Raleigh Personal Injury Lawyer - Head & Brain Injuries

Injured Iraq Vet Getting Brain Treatment in N.C.