Fostoria Soldier Returns Home For First Time

FOSTORIA, Ohio -- Despite being left a double amputee with a traumatic brain injury, Fostoria native Shane Parsons says he still would have gone into the Army if he knew then what he knows now.

He was injured one month before he was to return home from his first tour of duty in Iraq.

"I wasn't done with my job," he said.

Parsons was sent to Iraq in 2005. The day he was injured was his day off but he volunteered to take a friend's place on a mission. A roadside bomb hit him and his gunner when he was driving the lead Humvee on the mission Sept. 30, 2006. He went into cardiac arrest, suffered a traumatic brain injury and lost both legs above his knees.

"Shane actually died on-site," said Cindy, his mother.

Parsons, 24, received a Purple Heart from then-President George Bush in December 2006 and retired from the Army two weeks ago as a sergeant. He returned home to Fostoria Nov. 5.

Shane's father died from a brain tumor when Shane was 6 months old. His 74-year-old grandmother is helping the family.

"He needs 24/7 safety care," Cindy said. "He's doing very well."

Cindy moved to be with Shane after he was injured in Iraq. While she was gone, mold from a water leak destroyed their Fostoria home.

Funds from local, state and national organizations helped pay for a new two-story home with furnishings on Union Street. The Coalition to Salute America's Heroes paid $130,000 for the home, and other people offered assistance.

Hope for the Warriors, which supports wounded service members, their families and the families of those who have died, assembled contractors to help rebuild the Parsons' home. Contractors worked for free, and Hope for the Warriors funded about $150,000 toward the project, which includes an addition.

Robin Kelleher, president and chief executive officer of the organization, said the help and compassion shown by the individuals and organizations that got involved in the project is remarkable.

"We are humbled by the people that we worked with on this project and look forward to doing more things with them," she said.

Shane and Cindy expressed appreciation for all of the people in Fostoria who have supported them and their family as well as the groups that helped build and furnish their home.

"We came to a completely furnished house," Cindy said.

The house now includes a breezeway, deck, 2 1/2-car garage and exercise room, which the family calls Shane's "man cave."

"I didn't expect anything of it like this," Shane said about seeing the room for the first time. "I'm very grateful."

Kelleher said she was present when Shane got home Thursday. Shane had no idea about the extent of the project, and it was emotional for him, she said.

"It was both a pleasure and an honor to work with them," she said.

The "man cave" features Ohio State University decorations, a big-screen television and a photograph of Shane playing dodgeball with his friends at Center for the Intrepid, a rehabilitation center in San Antonio, Texas. Shane is a 2004 graduate of Fostoria High School and wore No. 68 for the football team. The number now is retired, and the jersey hangs on the wall.

The floor has an "O," and the wall has a mural of Bobby Carpenter, a former OSU football player Shane met in Dallas.

The cave has equipment to help Shane work on using his prosthetics. It also has a piece of exercise equipment similar to one at Center for the Intrepid, and it was paid for by Hope for the Warriors.

"I can't imagine what something like this would cost," Cindy said. "It has to be phenomenal."

Shane has his own bathroom complete with a specialized shower chair.

"Everything's really accessible," he said.

A room off the back of the house is home to an endless pool that allows Shane to swim against the current for a workout.

Shane has benchpressed 300 pounds at Center for the Intrepid, and his upper body has gotten bigger.

"There's a six-pack in here somewhere," he said, jokingly. "It's there. I just got to look for it."

The exercise equipment is to help Parsons prepare for a triathlon at Camp Lejeune, N.C., a year from now.

"He's got a lot of work to do," Cindy said.

Parsons is traveling to and from Texas, where he still competes with the San Antonio Sled Rampage, a traveling hockey team, and works out at the Center for the Intrepid. Eventually, he wants to go to college.

He is involved in a transitional program that evaluates his strengths and weaknesses and teaches him life skills. He has his own bank account, does his own laundry and buys groceries, Cindy said.

"He wants to live on his own someday," she said.

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