Soldier speaks of high spirits

A Grass Valley man severely injured in Afghanistan will spend Christmas with his family as he recovers in a Washington, D.C. hospital room.

The U.S. military paid for Noah Bailey's parents to spend several weeks with their son while he recovers from wounds to both of his legs at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

"I'm doing good and my spirits are up," Bailey said from his hospital room Monday. "I'm gonna be here for a while."

Bailey nearly lost his right foot and suffered severe injuries to his left leg when a roadside bomb exploded as his convoy conducted combat operations Dec. 4 southwest of Deh Chopan.

"We were going to base camp," he said. "I remember everything that happened."

The explosive device was so powerful that it launched Bailey out of the Humvee's gunner position and onto the ground.

The armored vehicle then rolled onto his left leg, shattering it in several places.

He said his right foot suddenly didn't appear to be fully attached to his body, as if it were only hanging by strings.

"Imagine taking your tennis shoe off, grabbing your shoelace and moving (the shoe) around" he said. "That's what it was like."

He said instead of "sitting there and crying," he laughed and made jokes about his injuries with other soldiers at the scene who had been riding in a truck behind him.

"What else was I gonna do?" he said. "I had to make the best of it."

Bailey was immediately evacuated to the U.S. military hospital in Landsthul, Germany, where doctors amputated his right foot just below the calf. He underwent several surgeries on both legs in the following days, and was transported to Walter Reed Medical Center approximately a week later.

Bailey's parents, John and Becca Callahan, joined him in Washington, D.C., last week.

"My mom's been putting up cards all over the room," he said, adding that having his parents there is exactly what he needs right now.

He's had several other visitors including World Wrestling Federation wrestler Triple H and young veteran soldiers with prosthetic devices similar to the one he will receive for his right lower leg.

"I've been visited by a kid who said last year the same thing happened to him and you can't even tell he's wounded," Bailey said. "It turns out that my amputee leg will be my strong leg."

Later this week, he said, doctors will close the wound on his right leg and continue restorative surgeries on his shattered left leg.

While he's already doing rehabilitative exercises with his right leg and abdominals, Bailey said he hasn't been able to move his left side since the bombing. He said he's in pain, but the nerve block in his left leg helps.

"It's been kinda rough," he said. "There are staples all over my leg and metal bars in my tibia and fibula."

His parents will return Jan. 9 to Grass Valley, and his sister, Melissa, will visit soon afterward, compliments of the U.S. military.

Bailey said it will probably be several weeks before he returns to Grass Valley, where he plans to settle down and work.

"Oh, I like the town," he said. "I don't know what I'm going to do for work yet, but I'll be back."

Any cards or letters to Noah Bailey should be sent to: Noah Bailey, WRAMC, 6900 Georgia Avenue NW, Washington D.C. 20307, Attn: Ward 58.

<I>To contact staff writer Robyn Moormeister, e-mail robynm@theunion.com or call 477-4236.</I>