By Bill Petzold
Editor
SAGINAW — When it comes to recovering from life-changing injuries, no one knows more than U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills.
Mills was the featured speaker Thursday at St. Stephen Catholic Church in Saginaw at Covenant HealthCare’s seventh annual Stroke Awareness Event. Covenant asked Mills to speak about recovery, as well as to provide inspiration that a positive mental attitude can help a person accomplish amazing things.
Mills was injured by an improvised explosive device on April 10, 2012 while on patrol during his third tour of Afghanistan. He lost portions of both arms and both legs and is one of only five quadruple amputees from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to survive such extensive injuries. Since then, Mills has established himself as a hero to many for his willingness to talk about his injuries with humor in a down-to-earth manner.
Mills spoke about the process of recovery, including identifying a person’s own motivation and goals, and also demonstrated how his prosthetic limbs work with help from his dad, Dennis Mills of Vassar. Family provided motivation for him to recover, Mills said, specifically his wife Kelsey and daughter Chloe. He explained how he set long-term goals and short-term goals, and spoke about overcoming setbacks during his lengthy rehabilitation.
Mills drew frequent laughs with his irreverant speaking style, and at the conclusion of his presentation encouraged the audience to ask questions — no subject off limits. Questions ranged from “Do you wear your prosthetics when you shower?” (Mills said he doesn’t, but has a special bathroom setup that helps facilitate showering) and “What do you do when you’re feeling down?” (Mills estimated he has about an hour a week that he feels down, but that he keeps himself busy with speaking engagements and with raising his daughter, as well as tapping into their motivation to prevent himself being depressed.)
Mills also spoke about his work with the National Veterans Family Camp (veteransfamilycamp.com), and his dream to provide recreation for disabled veterans and their families.
“I guess for me, going out and snowboarding and doing a lot of things like that — I’ve never felt more rehabbed than doing that,” Mills said. “But I really think that PTSD and suicide rates are so high because of social disconnect, honestly. With what they did overseas and coming back and being secluded and not feeling comfortable with what they did overseas and thinking about it and (normal life) not being the same as overseas combat life. The VFW and the American Legion — everybody thinks it’s like a smoky bar with angry, grumpy men. But really it’s guys that came together to talk about their experiences.
“I don’t want to sing Kumbaya and hold hands and wipe our tears and tell sob stories, really I just want guys to understand they weren’t the only one that went through it, we all went through it and we can talk about it and have our laughs, and if they want to do that over a beer then have a beer. I’m not there to tell them they’ve got to cry about it or make them feel like they’re less of a man, but for me it’s about not being secluded and hidden away in a society that doesn’t understand what you did — because like 1 percent of the U.S. (population) is in the service or a veteran.
“I’m just trying to bring people together and let them know it’s OK. What you did is fine. If you have any symptoms let’s talk about it, let’s figure out how we cope with it and just get together and hang out, and that’s what I’m trying to do. The simplicity is the best part. I don’t need to medicate you, I don’t need to tell you what all your problems are and what’s wrong with you. I just need to talk to you. Let’s hang out.”
Doctors from Covenant’s Neurosciences Stroke Awareness Team answered questions from the crowd about the risk factors and symptoms of stroke. Every three minutes, someone in the U.S. dies from a stroke, which is the fourth leading cause of death. More than 600,000 people suffer a stroke annually. Covenant is a primary stroke center and a health fair at the St. Stephen parish center included information about the ways Covenant treats stroke patients.
Mills’ ‘Smart Home’ crew target of burglary, tools recovered
By Bill Petzold
Editor
MANCHESTER, Maine — U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills made headlines recently after thieves allegedly stole thousands of dollars worth of tools from the site of Mills’ “Smart Home,” currently under construction in Manchester, Maine.
Maine news source The Morning Sentinel reported that Tiffany Fitzpatrick, 26 of Augusta, Maine, was charged with two counts of burglary and one count of theft by unauthorized taking in the incident. The Sentinel lists the names of five other individuals who were on record bringing the items to local pawn shops.
Officials estimated the value of the stolen tools at $8,000. The Morning Sentinel reported that the head contractor in charge of constructing Mills’ home said the theft only delayed construction by three hours, because tools were recovered from an Augusta pawn shop and because Hammond Lumber Company donated other tools to replace the missing items.
TV station WGME reported that Mills’ home was one of three homes under construction targeted by the thieves, and that Mills planned to show up in court for the alleged thieves court date.
Thursday after his speech in Saginaw, Mills said it was unlikely that he would attend any court dates.
“They broke into the trailer and now they’re getting, like, crucified,” Mills said. “I wasn’t there. They’re getting in trouble. They shouldn’t have done it; they made a bad choice.”
The custom-built “Smart House” was donated to Travis and his family by the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation and the Gary Sinise Foundation.