March 26th 2010. Cpl. Todd Nicely, 26,
was leading a patrol in Lakari, Helmand province, southern
Afghanistan, with 12 Marines of the 1st Squad, 1st Platoon, Company
F, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines when his life changed forever. He and
his squad were walking in staggered formation, and they were at the
foot of a bridge when he stepped on a device consisting of 40 pounds
of home-made explosives. There was a small clicking sound, and then
an enormous blast broke the silence, knocking over the whole patrol.
Cpl. Nicely was thrown in the air in a cloud of dust and debris, and
when he landed, near the river bank, he was still conscious. He cried
out in pain, twice, and he immediately understood how seriously
wounded he was: much of his right arm was gone, just like his left
hand and his right leg, while his left leg was barely attached. A
friend remembers that shrapnel was lodged in Todd’s jaw, and that it
was jutting out of his left cheek. He also had an abdominal wound,
which meant that part of his bowel was protruding. Still Todd never
thought he would die. He did not want to die: he wanted to go back
home to his wife.
His comrades in arms were the first to rush to
his help. The helicopter arrived six minutes later and Todd was taken
to the military hospital. Later he was flown back to the United
States, to the Walter Reed Medical Center Army in Bethesda,
Maryland.
When Todd woke up, his first thoughts were for his
fellow comrades: “Was anyone else hurt?”
He later began
his long journey of rehabilitation. In a year-and-a-half, Cpl. Nicely
had to learn to walk again, this time by using carbon fiber
artificial limbs, to shave, with his new artificial hands, to eat,
using a knife to cut the meat. He received the Silver Star, the Medal
of Valor and the Purple Heart, but at the same time he had to learn
to do everything all over again, relying on his mechanical arms,
which don’t react to muscular stimulus.
Todd received a lot of
help from Joshua Chamberlain Society, which will pay his bills for
the rest of his life, and from the Stephen Siller’s Tunnels to Tower
Foundation. This organization, with the help of the Gary Sinise
Foundation (Gary Sinise is the actor who played Lt. Dan Taylor, the
solidier who loses his legs in the movie Forrest Gump), built Todd a
new home in Lake Ozark, Missouri.
Todd shares this with his
beloved dog, Xerxes, a bulldog, just like the mascot of his
battalion. The house has plenty of smart technology, including an
elevator, automated closets and ramps.
In February 2014, Todd
separated from his wife and now it is his mother Julie who looks
after him. And yet, thanks to his inner strength and his smart house,
Todd is self-sufficient in almost everything: cooking, driving his
car, taking out the garbage, lighting a cigarette.
The events
of September 11th 2001 changed his life, triggering his decision to
join the Marine Corps. “Put me in the infantry”, he
demanded before being assigned, but March 26th 2010 was to be the
second turning point in his life. Nevertheless, Cpl. Todd Nicely, a
quad amputee, will always be a Marine. Even now, with no regrets. He
still plays war videogames, his dog tags are close to hand, and his
pick-up is military green.
At the beginning of June 2016, Todd
Nicely tried to kill himself with his own gun in the bedroom of his
house. He survived, and now, after a complex psychological
rehabilitation, he has decided to study for a degree in economics in
order to try and get his life back.
