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 My name is Molly Baird-Kelly. My husband is SPC Michael Baird-Kelly of the US Army. He is my best friend, my soul mate, the father to our amazing little girl, AND a Wounded Warrior. His story is much like many other Military Service members. He grew up in a split family life. It was full of love and support, and he knew he wanted to follow in his father, his step-mother, his grandmother and his grandfather, who he looked up to dearly. (His mother also worked Department of Department for the Navy... guess the military was just in his genes!) After high school he joined the Army as an Apache Crew Chief with the 101st at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
This is where his story differs from many. He had a safe deployment, where he returned home to his awaiting family, and of course, me! We became pregnant with our little princess, Maryn, who is now 18 months old. When I was about 5 months pregnant, Mike was out on his motorcycle in the countryside surrounding Fort Campbell. A bunch of us left a friend's house to head back into town. He was run off the road by a (presumably drunk) driver who did not stop. Another Army Family and I were the first to arrive on scene, having witnessed the truck swerving and pealing off. While waiting for the first responders, an Army Medic, who never gave us his name, stopped and helped stabilize my husband's leg, which was destroyed, poking out of his shoes, after flying about 18 feet through the air.
We arrived at the hospital on base where they did a surgery to stabilize and salvage anything they could, and tried to send us an hour away to Nashville. They were unwilling to preform this surgery, saying the only thing they could do was amputate. Some how, by the grace of God, his surgeon at Fort Campbell knew of Dr. Hsu at Brooke Army Medical Center, one of the leading Limb Salvage Surgeons in the Army. We were air-lifted to San Antonio and thankfully someone told me about the Fisher House.
Inge, the BAMC Fisher House manager, set us up in an amazing room, all handicap accessible, of course, where we stayed for the next 3 and a half months. We met amazing, life-long friends, as well as organizations who bent over backwards making our stay in San Antonio the most heartwarming experience of our lives. We left the Fisher House and headed back to Fort Campbell, which a car full of baby shower presents, souvenirs from Sea World and The Alamo, phone numbers of friends who we are still in contact with, pictures of Mike's progress, and my ever-growing pregnancy belly!
Since then, we have returned to Brooke Army Medical Center, where Dr. Hsu and his colleagues have designed an amazing brace that has allowed Michael to return to an almost "normal" way of life. He can walk, run and jump, which were all things they never thought he'd be doing again. He won a Silver Medal in the Para-Olympics Regional Games. He is able to drive his Jeep with a clutch again, and has become the most amazing husband and father to me and my daughter.
We are so thankful for the Fisher House. I can't imagine the extra stress we would have had to deal with having to pay for a hotel room for months. I'm so grateful for your organization and can't thank you enough for helping us in our time of need.
Much Love,
Molly Baird-Kelly (and, of course, Michael and Maryn!)
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