The seconds leading up to the explosion are moments U.S. Army Spec. Tyler “T.J.” Jeffries will never forget. The 50 minutes after, from the time he was pulled from the Afghanistan ground and loaded into a helicopter, are ones he likely wishes he could erase from his memory.
Since that day in October last year, Jeffries — a 2007 graduate of Zephyrhills High School — has pushed himself through physical rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He now uses prosthetics where he lost parts of both legs in the attack. And Jeffries showed the progress he’s made on them in his first trip back to Zephyrhills since before his deployment to Afghanistan.
“The first step is getting over the pain of walking,” Jeffries said. “It hurts when (the prosthetic) hits the end of your legs. You have to learn to deal with that and keep your balance.”
For Jeffries and other soldiers with similar injuries from IEDs — improvised explosive devices — it’s about learning how to walk all over again.
Jeffries was one of 1,744 soldiers injured by IEDs in 2012, according to the Pentagon. And that was just in Afghanistan alone. While that is an improvement over the 3,542 injured in 2011, it’s still one of the top dangers soldiers face in the war zone.
Right after the explosion, Jeffries thought he was going to end up as part of a different statistic — 300 soldiers were killed by IEDs in the last two years.
“At first, I didn’t really feel much of anything,” Jeffries said. “Your body has so much adrenaline pumping through it. But 15 to 20 minutes later, you start to feel everything. My armor had caught on fire, my legs were gone, it was a terrible sight to see yourself in. I thought I was going to die.”
Luckily, no one else was injured in the explosion, and Jeffries’ platoon members were talking to him about his favorite beer, and what they wanted to do that evening. It was all to help keep his mind off of what was happening while they awaited help.
“Your life doesn’t really flash before your eyes, but I did think of all the stuff I didn’t do, and all the things I wanted to do,” Jeffries said. “I started to think about the regrets in my life, and that I was going to die on this ground in Afghanistan.”
One thing he absolutely did not regret was joining the Army in the first place. Jeffries made the decision to enlist when he was 19 and not quite sure what he wanted to do with his life.
“I was one of those teenagers who made the wrong decisions and did stupid things,” Jeffries said. “I wasn’t going anywhere in my life, I wasn’t going to school, and I knew that the military would make my life better.”
Jeffries never feared going to Afghanistan or Iraq, and in fact, joined the infantry so he could end up on the front lines.
He arrived in Afghanistan in early 2012, and was shot at within hours of touching boots to the ground.
“Anybody who says they are not a little scared once they arrive (is) probably lying,” Jeffries said. “But after your first firefight, where you really have to defend yourself, all that fear and stuff goes away. It’s almost like you’ve practiced all this for so long, all this training is embedded in your mind, and all the fear goes away.”
Jeffries has been at Walter Reed since soon after the attack, and while many family members and friends visited him in Washington, he didn’t want to return to Zephyrhills until he could manage for himself.
“I didn’t want everyone to see me in such a horrible state,” Jeffries said. “I didn’t want to be reminded of all the stuff I couldn’t do.”
But with rehabilitation and his new prosthetics, Jeffries is finding life is going back to normal. Once his stay at Walter Reed is done early next year, Jeffries will leave the Army and embark on a future he almost didn’t have.
He plans to attend a gunsmith trade school and open his own gun range either here in Florida, or possibly in North Carolina. Jeffries grew up around guns, has always been fascinated by guns, and feels it’s a great way to combine his personal passions and a career.
However, if he could have it his way, Jeffries would do something much different.
“I would be back in Afghanistan right now,” Jeffries said. “I have some unfinished business.”
