The Veterans Administration should be providing the absolute highest quality of care in the country. Yet why is it that the exact opposite is happening?
While being ignored by the VA crisis intervention, Todd Nicely, a quadrupedal amputee, attempted suicide.
The rate of suicide for veterans in the U.S. is a whopping and unacceptable 22 a day. Clearly services need to be ramped up, yet they are not. Psychological counseling needs to be top notch, yet it is not. Treatment needs to be improved and expedited quickly. Yet nothing seems to change.
Here you have a guy, a quadruple amputee, who cant even be paid attention to. He was ignored by the VA and then he shot himself.
He was a Marine squad leader in Lakari, Afghanistan. On patrol he stepped on an IED. He survived, but lost both legs and hands.
He returned to the states and began living in a house designed to fit his new needs in Mississippi. No doubt the psychological toll was absolutely enormous.
Nevertheless, Nicely has been working to help wounded vets. Hes been serving as a role model with a message of inspiration. But we often forget that he himself is always in need of the same.
He had such a moment, where he needed to reach out. He knew what to do. He called the VA crisis center. He was angry and the counselor could not handle his anger issues, so he was told to calm down and call back.
Many of the vets that were inspired by Nicely are now furious about what has happened. And many others who have learned about this are very upset as well.
Nicely now has new challenges to face, and hopefully this time around he wont be ignored.
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