The Injury and Rehabilitation of a Paralyzed Veteran
A medical helicopter rushed in to take DeLancey to the hospital. He flatlined multiple times on the way to Al Asad Air Base. Once stabilized, he was flown to Landstuhl, Germany, for surgery. Eventually, he returned to the U.S. for treatment of his injuries at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, where he was placed in a medically induced coma.
Once sedation was wore off, DeLancey's family, friends and medical team encouraged him to discontinue use of the ventilator that was placed when doctors worked on his injuries. When DeLancey came off the ventilator, he was given the choice of four rehabilitation hospitals, and he chose to go to his home state of Florida for extensive rehabilitation.
For DeLancey, an important part of rehabilitation included maintaining an active lifestyle and participating in sports. He began attending events put on by the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization dedicated to supporting the Veterans through mental health services, physical wellness and peer support.
DeLancey not only began participating in adaptive sports such as hand cycling, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair basketball, but he also became a peer mentor to fellow Veterans, traveling to Bethesda, Maryland, and the Tampa VA hospital to support those going through similar experiences.
