On September 10, 2011, my life changed forever. While serving in Afghanistan, Combat Outpost Sayed Abad was struck by a massive truck bomb carrying nearly 2,000 pounds of explosives. The blast happened next to our perimeter wall. The explosion was devastating. 77 American service members were wounded, 5 Afghan National Police were killed out of an outpost of only 120 people. We immediately went to work pulling the wounded from the wreckage, and preparing them for emergency evacuation. CH-47 Chinook helicopters came in one after another for hours, carrying wounded to Bagram Air Base. Only after this was complete did I realize what had happened to me causing a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Just nine days later, I suffered a second TBI, I was evacuated and then sent back to duty. I came home, but not all of my brain did.

I am 100% VA disabled and for the past 13 years, I have lived with symptoms that most people never see. Severe anxiety, depression, memory loss, emotional instability, and cognitive problems that affect every part of my life. Traumatic brain injury and PTSD often look the same from the outside, but they are not the same inside the brain. That’s why I am now seeking treatment through the Resiliency Brain Health Clinic a specialized program that uses advanced brain imaging and neurological rehabilitation to treat combat-related TBIs. This care is not covered by the VA or insurance, but it offers something I’ve been missing for over a decade, real hope of neurological healing.

I am a husband, a father, a federal police officer and a farmer. My injuries don’t just affect me they affect my family, my livelihood, and my ability to be present in the lives of the people I love. Your donation directly helps pay for the medical evaluations and treatments that could finally allow my brain to heal from injuries I’ve carried since war. If you are reading this, you are already part of my recovery.

Thank you for helping me keep going.

Raymond Fisher