Before Deven Schei deployed to Afghanistan in 2010, his family posed for a portrait. From left: Anneka, Gordon, Erik, Deven and Christine Schei.

One bullet.

One choice.

One American military family shattered.

On Oct. 26, 2005, Army Spc. Erik Schei was shot in the head during a patrol in Iraq. The doctors said he would never recover from the catastrophic brain injury. They urged the family to take the 21-year-old off life support.

But his mother refused to abandon hope.

Christine Schei’s choice to take her wounded son home forever altered her family. Her younger son vowed to finish his brother’s mission, only to end up gravely wounded himself. Her 4-year-old daughter lost her childhood. Her husband lost his career, and his peace of mind.

Thousands of American servicemembers have been seriously wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last 12 years of war. But the collateral damage from those wounds extends much further, challenging the families of the wounded for a lifetime.

Christine Schei refuses to take her son off life support, and instead starts down the long path of caregiving as Erik struggles to recover from severe brain damage.

The full story

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Deven Schei follows through on a promise he made to his older brother and joins the Army. After getting wounded in Afghanistan, he battles depression as he recovers alone at Brooke Army Medical Center.

The full story

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Seven years after Erik was shot, he is still trapped in a body that barely moves. Christine’s life revolves around his daily needs, and she fights the VA to get him every treatment available.

The full story

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About the series

This series was compiled from extensive interviews with the Schei family over four months; first-hand observations from the Schei home in Rio Rancho, N.M., with Deven Schei at Brooke Army Medical Center, and with the family during a visit to Washington, D.C.; medical documents; and interviews with therapists involved in Erik Schei’s care. The dialogue is reconstructed from the memories of those involved, with more than one source confirming what was said when possible.



