TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Ten months and more than 100 surgeries after he suffered a paralyzing bullet wound in Afghanistan, a Fort Riley soldier has completed his long journey home to Topeka.
Dozens of members of the American Legion and Patriot Guard Riders stood at attention Friday as a private medical plane carrying 27-year-old Sgt. Jamie Jarboe touched down at Philip Billard Memorial Airport. He was moved onto a stretcher and placed in an ambulance for a ride to a Topeka rehab facility, escorted by Patriot Guard motorcyclists, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported.
The turnout was especially gratifying for Jarboe’s wife, Melissa Jarboe.
“Jamie’s just going to be flabbergasted and amazed,” she said while waiting on the tarmac.
There are times, she said, that her husband believes that “some people forget some people don’t care about the soldiers. I tell him, ‘I beg to differ.’ Today it really shows how strong the support is for him here in Topeka, Kan.”
Jamie Jarboe was unable to fully return the salutes of those who gave him a hero’s welcome, but he could lift a hand and wave briefly.
Jarboe had been in Afghanistan about two months when a sniper’s bullet struck him in the neck while he was on foot patrol April 10. The bullet penetrated his spine, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down.
He has undergone more than 100 surgeries, first at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C., then at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore before he was transferred to a rehabilitation facility in Denver. Melissa Jarboe has spent as much time as possible with him while their two daughters remained in Topeka to attend school.
Jarboe still faces several more surgeries, but Melissa Jarboe said she’s happy to have him back in Topeka, where she and their daughters will be able to see him daily.
The homecoming took place three days after Valentine’s Day, which was the couple’s first wedding anniversary. The family has “put God first” to help them endure the past 10 months, she said.
“It’s better that way, instead of asking, ‘Why me?”’ she said.
