Brandon grew up in Topsham, Maine and spent most of his life there. His father was in the Navy for 23 years along with several other family members who are in the service. Brandon graduated from Mt. Ararat High School in June 2005 and 2 weeks later left for Army Basic Training. He completed Airborne School and was sent to Ft. Drum, NY with the 10th Mountain Division.
Brandon was an infantryman and deployed to Iraq in August 2006. While conducting combat operations in his sector on March 24, 2007, he was hit with an IED while driving an armored Humvee. It blew up directly underneath the driver’s seat where he was sitting and knocked him unconscious. All the bones in his lower left leg and foot were broken, fractured, shattered and dislocated. The explosion caused a traumatic brain injury and blew out both his eardrums. He was taken by helicopter to Baghdad where he required numerous surgeries to stabilize his leg. Subsequently at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, he underwent over 50 surgeries to try to salvage his leg. Three days after his 20th birthday he made the decision to amputate his left leg below the knee.
Brandon was devastated. However, he began to accept his new reality and life when he met other amputees and saw how well they got around and their positive outlook on life. Learning to walk again was a difficult and painful experience at first. In response, he gave 100% every day at physical therapy. Within several months he was running, rock climbing, lifting weights and snowboarding.
After a total of 20 months at Walter Reed, Brandon returned to active duty and his infantry platoon at the end of 2008. He was able to stay active for a year and a half, even returning to Iraq with Operation Proper Exit through the Troops First Foundation. Brandon was medically retired in 2010 and returned home to Maine.
Last September, Brandon married his wife, Riva. The couple have a dog, Ella, who serves as his PTSD service dog. Ella completed her training in July!
