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Family has big hopes for injured soldier

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — At this time of year, there are plenty of New Year’s resolutions flying around: Exercise more, eat less or fix up the garage.

Christine Schei’s resolution for her 23-year-old son, Erik, is to learn how to walk again.

In October 2005, Erik was a 21-year-old Army sergeant serving in Mosul, Iraq, as a machine-gunner with the Army’s 94th Engineer Battalion.

A sniper’s bullet pierced the right side of his helmet and passed through both frontal lobes of his brain.

“They gave him zero chance of survival,” Erik’s father, Gordon Schei, said. “They said if he did survive, he would be a vegetable. They wanted us to pull the plug on him. But we dug deep.

“We’re people of faith, and we brought him home, and today he communicates with people. He laughs, he’s standing — not on his own, but with help. He’s doing so many things.”

Erik uses a wheelchair and lives with his parents and 7-year-old sister in the Rio Rancho home his parents helped him purchase in August. The family moved from Taos to be closer to the VA hospital.

He is constantly impressing his parents, friends and therapists with the improvements he is making. He now speaks one or two words at a time. Often, “annoying” is one of them, speaking of his sister, said Christine Schei, laughing.

He has a computer attached to his wheelchair, which often speaks for him. He activates it with his head.

“We’re also teaching him to feed himself, which takes a lot of effort,” Christine Schei said. “His brain just seems to have forgotten which muscles to use.”

There are some things, however, that his brain has not forgotten how to do.

“He knows how to read, which was a shock to all of us,” she said. “They held up cards and he mouthed the words. A lot of times, it’s a whisper. It’s not real loud. We have to push him sometimes, ‘Erik louder, try harder.’ He has been our miracle child. We have great expectations, and hopefully by the end of next year, he can walk in a walker even if it’s just two or three steps.”

Erik has occupational and physical therapists come to the house three times a week, and a speech therapist comes twice a week. His mother also drives him to speech therapy three times a week.

“My hope is for him to be able to live independently, to be able to take care of himself and not be dependent on anyone else,” Gordon Schei said. “He’s always going to need some kind of help. Right now, he needs 24-hour care, but nobody thought he would get as far as he is right now, so there’s no sense in thinking he won’t get further.”

A donation fund has been set up to help the family landscape Erik’s home to make it easier for him to get around the property in his wheelchair.

The family is hoping for a covered patio so Erik can enjoy being outside without worrying about being burnt; his skin is very sensitive, Christine Schei said. They also want to build some pathways through the yard, and perhaps plant some trees, shrubs and flowers that Erik can enjoy.

There is $500 in the fund, said Todd Hathorne, who is heading up the landscaping project for the family. Hathorne is a candidate for the District 6 City Council seat.