Soldiering forward

Noah Bailey, a young soldier yet already a seasoned veteran with a drive for survival and a gift of resilience, gives this advice to other Americans injured in war:

"Have a good attitude," he said. "Keep your head up."

The Grass Valley man lost half his right leg in December when a roadside bomb detonated near his Humvee in Afghanistan and was recently faced with a decision most people wouldn't wish on their worst enemies:

Should he keep his other leg, also mangled in the explosion, or tell doctors to cut it off?

After reviewing his X-rays and speaking with doctors two weeks after the explosion, he opted for amputation just below the knee, which would match his right leg.

"They were going to fuse the ankle at a 90 degree ankle," Bailey said Wednesday from his temporary studio apartment in barracks at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. "I told them to amputate. I can do more without it."

The surgery was performed a week after Bailey's 21st birthday. His stepfather John Callahan, mother Becca Callahan and sister Melissa Bailey, 26, were all at the hospital to celebrate with Bailey.

"It wasn't the kind of celebration you should have on your 21st," John Callahan said Wednesday, "but we had cake and ice cream and the nurses danced for him. It was a good time."

During another visit, Bailey and Callahan went to a tattoo parlor outside hospital grounds, where Bailey had a permanent tribute to his amputated limbs inked onto his chest.

"The tattoo is a Humvee with an explosion at the bottom," Bailey said. "There are two feet flying with wings, clouds and angel rays."

Bailey and his family don't know when he'll be released from the hospital where the Army specialist is undergoing physical therapy five times a week along with occupational therapy three times a week with his new prosthetic legs.

Bailey mastered walking with a cane only two and a half weeks after being fitted with his prosthetics.

"He's working his a-- off," Callahan said. "He's a stud. He's just a beast."

Bailey said the hospital staff is very good to him and that they are stunned by his progress.

Bailey's mother and grandmother were visiting him Wednesday. He is scheduled for another surgery soon, in which a screw protruding from his left knee will be removed - minor surgery compared to what he has endured in recent months.

Bailey gets a month of leave from the Army in June, and he's hoping to spend the entire time in Grass Valley.

When he is finally released, he said, he hopes to work in law enforcement close to his hometown. He speaks fondly about a ride-along with a deputy he took before leaving for boot camp.

"I might shoot for something like that," he said.

Callahan said his son's situation is tough for him to think about sometimes, but the family is handling it "better than most would.'"

Any cards or letters to Noah Bailey should be sent to: Noah Bailey, WRAMC, 6900 Georgia Avenue NW, Washington D.C. 20307, Attn: Building 14, Room 1117.


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