Garrett Illerbrunn, an 82nd Airborne pilot, was severely injured in a drone strike on Christmas Day 2023 in Iraq. He is undergoing rehab at the VA Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia.
Garrett Illerbrunn is working to relearn basic movements.
The 82nd Airborne pilot was badly injured in a drone strike on Christmas Day 2023 in Iraq.
"He's able to follow simple commands if those commands involve a thumbs up, a head node, an eyebrow raise, a smile," said Illerbrunn's wife, Lorna Illerbrunn.
Garrett Illerbrunn is rehabbing at the VA Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia.
Lorna Illerbrunn, a former Army pilot herself, spoke with WRAL News from the family's home in Pinehurst. She said her husband's progress is slow, but steady.
"Garrett's injury is devastating," she said. "Seriously, if it was an inch lower, he would have been dead instantly."
It happened while he was working on a base in Irbil, Iraq, as part of his duties as a Chief Warrant Officer 4.
Lorna Illerbrunn and the couple's 8-year-old son Tucker were stateside. They had just opened presents when she got the call from an Army colonel. Shrapnel from a drone strike had bisected her husband's skull.
"I just was devastated," Lorna Illerbrunn said. "I could physically feel my heart breaking."
In the months before and after Garrett Illerbrunn got out of a coma, his wife was by his side.
"I just saw him and wanted to put my hand on his and let him hear my voice," Lorna Illerbrunn said.
Doctors had Garrett Illerbrunn wear a helmet because he was missing part of his skull. The doctors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center had to reconstruct it.
Tucker is teaching his dad sign language during their visits. However, the Illerbrunns face a daunting road ahead.
Lorna Illerbrunn is taking it day by day. She practices meditation, writes and expresses her gratitude. She tries to provide a living example of what she told her husband in the days after the life-changing blast.
"I would tell him brave birds fly through the fog," she said. "Just keep flying through the clouds. He can't see where he's going but it's OK, just keep flying."