Wounded Iraq Veteran Adjusts To Life With One Arm

Photo: The Iraq and Afghanistan wars have produced about 830 amputees among U.S. troops, including Norberto Lara, shown here outside Walter Reed Medical Center. Michael Doyle / MCT

From McClatchy News:

WASHINGTON — Norberto Lara showed off his new arm, a terrible beauty.

The wounded Iraq veteran can do wonders with his latest prosthetic. His nerves fire, the elbow rotates and pincers open and close. He demonstrated his golf swing and mimicked pedaling a recumbent bike.

It will look really cool once it's covered with black carbon fiber, Lara said.

Nearly five years after platoon sergeant Lara and his lieutenant, Dawn Halfaker, lost their arms to the same rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq, however, both veterans remain works in progress. Lara's last surgery hurt like hell, for a long time. Nightmares still dog him. He's returned to Walter Reed Army Medical Center four times in the past six months.

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My Comment: These men and women are our true heroes.