SPC Justin Perez-Gorda

Dripping Springs, TX

Army SPC Justin Perez-Gorda was on his first deployment when he became a paraplegic and suffered a traumatic brain injury, as the result of an IED explosion in Memlah, Afghanistan on January 5, 2011. The driver of a Mine resistant Ambush Protected All Terrain Vehicle (M-ATV), SPC Perez-Gorda and his team were returning from a reconnaissance mission when they came under fire near a school. Maneuvering the vehicle through the area, SPC Perez-Gorda could not know that a pressure plated IED lay hidden in the road. The bomb detonated as the truck rolled over it, throwing SPC Perez-Gorda from his seat; the deafening sound of the blast, the last thing he remembers. Suffering from back fractures and bursts, SPC Perez-Gorda also suffered a broken leg and pelvis fracture, as well as hand injuries. Airlifted to two separate medical centers in the Green Zone, SPC Perez-Gorda was next airlifted to Bagram Air Force Base and would spend a total of four days receiving treatment in Afghanistan before being airlifted to Landstuhl, Germany where he stayed for another two days. Airlifted stateside, Justin’s journey would take him through Andrew’s Air Force Base in Maryland and then Scott Air Force Base in Illinois before finally arriving at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, TX, nine days after the blast.