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Former patient – now a Marine – returns to Shriners Hospital on Veterans Day to thank his doctors

Wood goes back on active duty Nov. 15 in San Diego.

 As far back as he can remember, James Wood dreamed of serving his country. His parents, Alfred and Susan, both served in the Army, and carrying on the family tradition of military service was is so ingrained in him, it’s nearly part of his genetic code.

 But James had an obstacle to that dream: he was born with club foot.  The short version of this story is that James’s grandfather was a Shriner, and within two weeks of his birth, he had his first appointment at Shriners Hospitals for Children. His doctor, Chief of Staff Perry L. Schoenecker, is one of the world’s most renowned orthopaedic surgeons, and after numerous surgeries, corrected James’s club foot so he could go on to pursue his dreams.

But it turns out, it wasn’t that simple.

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When James began to seriously contemplate pursuing his dream of military service, he learned that even a corrected club foot would be an obstacle for him.

“His range of motion in his left foot was limited,” said his mother, Susan. “And the recruiters told us that he probably wouldn’t be accepted for military service.”

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 James was devastated, but he wasn’t defeated.

 “I was upset, and I thought I would have to pick a different occupation that I didn’t think I would enjoy as much,” he said. “But it pushed me to try harder, because people said I couldn’t do it.”

 So, while his parents worked with Dr. Schoenecker and his staff at Shriners Hospitals for Children in order to secure the correct medical paperwork and endorsements of James’s physical abilities, James dedicated himself to increasing his physical stamina, and vigorous stretching and training for his leg and foot to increase his range of motion.

 As he was training, James said he thought often about the obstacles the people at Shriners Hospital helped him overcome, and the encouragement and confidence his nurses and doctors had in him.

 “I knew that if I was strong enough to endure all those surgeries when I was little – after being afraid of needles, and surgery, and the saws they use to remove casts – then I could do anything, “ he said. “The people at Shriners taught me to never give up, so when I was training I just tried to remember everything that I had already overcome.”

Finally, James got the call he had been dreaming of: the Marine Corps invited him to boot camp in San Diego. But even then, the odds seemed stacked against him. Doctors there told him that very few men enter the Marine Corps with club foot. Of those who do, only a few make it past the first month of boot camp, and only a handful have ever graduated.

 “One of the doctors in the Marine Corps told me I was dumb for entering boot camp,” he said. “He didn’t say I couldn’t do it, he said I was crazy for doing it.”

 James learned quickly that doctor knew what he was talking about.

 “Boot camp was miserable. At the very beginning,  all I could think about was how much my foot hurt,” he said. “But as it went on, I thought about it less and less. It still hurt, but they kept us so busy and so tired that there just wasn’t any time to think about my foot.  I learned the military mind-set, so there were times when the pain was noticeable, but I had to work through it, and I tried not to think about it.”

His parents wrote him letters to remind him to massage and stretch his foot.

 “It’s hard to massage your foot when there are blisters all over it,” he said.

 On Nov. 4, James graduated boot camp.

“We were so proud of him. We couldn’t wait to see him, but, of course, when they were marching in formation at the ceremony, they all looked alike in their uniforms,” said Susan. “So, I looked for his leg – because his left leg is a little smaller than his right leg.”

 Today, James and his mother returned to the hospital to thank his doctors and nurses for all they’ve done to help him achieve his dream.

 “I owe so much to Shriners,” James said. “If it hadn’t been for Shriners Hospital and all the people that I and my parents met here, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to serve my country.”

 On Nov. 15, James will fly back to San Diego to Camp Pendleton, where he’ll be enrolled in the School of Infantry, which is the most physically demanding assignment with the Marine Corps.

 The steely determination ingrained his genetic code and learned through his experience in Marine Corps boot camp – as well as his experience at Shriners Hospitals for Children – will carry him through with flying colors.

 
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