Wounded Houston veteran receives all-terrain wheelchair, woodworking equipment
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Retired Staff Sgt. Gregory Foster of Houston tries out his new wheelchair at Woodcraft in Canonsburg on Friday, May 24, 2019.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Retired Staff Sgt.Gregory Foster, center, sits in his new wheelchair for the fist time. His wife Colleen, right, and Freedom Alliance president Tom Kilgannon, left, clap at Woodcraft Supply LLC in Canonsburg Friday.
In 2011, Staff Sgt. Gregory Foster of Houston was shot while on deployment to Afghanistan, and was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star with Valor for his combat-related wounds and for bravery.
It was not the only serious injury Foster, now 46, would sustain as a member of the U.S. Army.
The following year, Foster – who at the age of 36 became one of the oldest soldiers to be awarded a Green Beret – was critically injured in a parachuting accident that resulted in a traumatic brain injury and nerve damage to his legs.
On Friday, the wounded war hero received special gifts in recognition of his sacrifice and service to the country.
Freedom Alliance, an organization that supports wounded troops and military families, presented an all-terrain wheelchair to Foster at Woodcraft Supply LLC in Canonsburg.
Woodcraft, where Foster takes woodworking classes, also gifted him a lathe and other equipment.
The off-road wheelchair, with treads like tank tracks, will enable Foster to maneuver on sand, through the woods, and on uneven surfaces.
It was presented to Foster by Freedom Alliance president Tom Kilgannon.
“When you’re in the presence of a Green Beret, you’re in the presence of somebody who gives their all, who is the best of the best. You’re with somebody who cares about their country, their fellow Americans, their fellow Special Forces members,” said Kilgannon. “These are people that Hollywood makes movies about, and we have one of them here today.”
Foster took the wheelchair for a test drive, and while family and friends looked on, he started spinning donuts in the Woodcraft parking lot.
“Thank you,” he said, lifting an arm above his head.
Said his wife, Colleen, laughing, “We’ve created a monster.”
Colleen said her husband defied the odds when he survived the June 2012 accident – which happened two months before their planned wedding date.
“This is a man who never ceases to amaze me. We were told that he wouldn’t make it through the night. If he did, doctors told us, he’d never walk, talk, dress himself or feed himself,” said Colleen. “I thought to myself, ‘You don’t know who you’re dealing with.’ He’s probably the most stubborn man I’ve ever met. He keeps me going.”
Colleen said Foster felt compelled to join the Army following 9/11. He enlisted in 2005, at the age of 32, and completed basic training, infantry school, jump school and language school before he was assigned to Fort Hood, Texas.
Foster, who completed four tours of duty, was stationed in North Carolina and was preparing for another deployment to Afghanistan when the accident happened.
He was participating in training exercises, and doctors believe between the time he jumped out of the airplane and pulled the cord on his parachute, a blood clot from his previous injury broke free, causing a stroke.
Unable to control the chute, he overshot the drop zone and crashed into a tree.
Colleen had gone to the drop zone that day to watch the maneuvers, and looked on helplessly as rescuers climbed 60 feet up the tree, where Foster was trapped for more than an hour, and carried him down.
Foster spent a year at Walter Reed Hospital recovering from his injuries. He spent additional time at rehabilitation facilities for speech and vision. He is blind in one eye (he uses an OrCam, an assistive reading device donated by Dr. Phil McGraw), and his speech has improved to the point where he can string together six- and seven-word sentences.
Foster has attended the National Wheelchair Games twice, where he has captured silver medals in archery, air rifle and nine-ball, a form of pool.
He taught himself to use his mouth to draw the bow while holding it with his left hand.
In addition to woodworking classes, Foster also participates in art and music classes.
Kilgannon said it’s important for veterans to participate in healing activities.
“When service members come home from Iraq and Afghanistan, they bring with them physical and emotional injuries that require a tremendous amount of intervention to help overcome,” he said. “Through the intervention of the great people of this community, and Woodcraft, and organizations like Freedom Alliance, (Foster) is working through that and participating in the kinds of hobbies that he loves to do so much.”
An avid outdoorsman, Foster and his wife used to camp often and ride mountain bikes.
“We used to be big campers and mountain bikers, and spend a lot of time outside. We’d hike,” said Colleen. “Now, we can fish on his sister’s farm and get outdoors. It will be great therapy. All of the gifts he received will be tremendous. Guys in the special forces are so used to being so active, and that was probably the hardest thing to adjust to – from being gone all the time to just sitting. I cannot thank everyone enough.”