I AM ALIVE

Last October, Rolling Meadows native Bryan Anderson lost three limbs when a roadside bomb demolished his Humvee. His story since is remarkable.

By David Zucchino
Tribune Newspapers: Los Angeles Times July 6, 2006

FT. HOOD, Texas -- Bryan Anderson emerged from an elevator in the airport terminal here, a diminished figure in a wheelchair. Both legs were gone, and most of his left arm -- all severed when a roadside bomb demolished the Humvee he was driving in Baghdad last fall.

Anderson, of Rolling Meadows, Ill., was never a big man -- 5 foot 6, 125 pounds. Now he was down to 80 pounds as he rolled through the terminal in late May to begin a 10-day visit with the soldiers who were with him the day his life changed.

Those men -- who had dragged him from the Humvee and stopped his bleeding Oct. 23 -- would see more than a fragile young man in a wheelchair. They would see a willful survivor who had transformed their lives, and his own, in a way none of them could have imagined.

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To view the accompanying flash presentation where Bryan Anderson discusses his injuries and recovery, please click here.