Mike Hutmacher | The Wichita Eagle Jerrod Hays of Wellington had nearly one half of his face blown away in Iraq when the armored Humvee he was riding in with three fellow soldiers got hit by explosions in an attack by the enemy, killing one and critically injuring the others in 2009. (Oct. 23, 2013)
– Iraq vet: Losing home ‘worse than getting blown up’ (The Kansas City Star, Oct 27, 2013):
WELLINGTON — In 2007, Staff Sgt. Jerrod Hays lost nearly half of his face to a roadside bomb in Iraq.
Now, the 44-year-old Wellington man could lose his home to foreclosure.
“This,” Hays said of the prospect of losing his home, “is worse than getting blown up.”
In the attack south of Baghdad, he lost much of his lower jawbone, 22 teeth, a third of his tongue and one and a half fingers. He nearly lost his right arm and lost movement in a wrist. He lost the ability to see normally: He has to wear sunglasses outside and he has trouble seeing at night. Shrapnel remains peppered into his body. He suffers chronic pain.
Read moreIraq Veteran: Losing Home ‘Worse Than Getting Blown Up’