OT: Kershaw SC.1st Sgt Mark Shaylor Vehicle hit by IEDS aylor suffered brain trauma, bone contusions, broken bones in his face, two broken fingers on his left hand, and six vertebrae in his neck and several vertebrae in his lower back ruptured

County native wounded in Iraq

By JIM TATUM, C-I senior staff reporter December 19, 2005

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It happened, as such moments do, so fast.

An Iraqi civilian vehicle was moving too fast toward a U.S. Army
striker vehicle. The driver of the striker turned to ask his commanding
officer what to do.

Then the Iraqi vehicle exploded right in front of the striker, the
driver of the military vehicle lost control, and the striker plunged some 20
feet down an embankment, landing upside down. Two of the crew would escape
with minor scratches. The others, including commanding officer 1st Sgt Mark
Shaylor, son of Mazie and Jim Harrell of Camden, would not be as lucky.

``Two walked away with minor scratches, but Mark and the other four
were sent to Germany for surgery, and Mark had surgery before he was flown
out of Iraq,`` said Shaylor`s stepfather, Jim Harrell.

Shaylor was wounded Nov. 6, one day shy of his 21st year in the Army.
His family was informed of the situation a few days later.

``You`re shocked with news like that,`` Jim Harrell said. ``You`re
shocked and you`re hoping its not as severe as it could have been.``

Shaylor suffered brain trauma, bone contusions, broken bones in his
face, two broken fingers on his left hand, and six vertebrae in his neck and
several vertebrae in his lower back ruptured, Harrell said.

Shaylor, who is believed to be the first soldier from Kershaw County
severely wounded in action during the Iraq war, will have to have surgery to
put a plate in his head, but it will probably be several months before that
can happen, Harrell said.

The Harrells have seen their son twice since he was brought to Walter
Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He is conscious now and
responding well to therapy, Harrell said. He also is starting to eat on his
own again; he had been fed through a tube since November.

``He had some ice cream the other day -- this is the first thing
they`ve given him by mouth since he was injured,`` Harrell said.

Shaylor has some movement on his right side, although his left side is
limited right now, Harrell said.

``He is responding very well to physical and occupational therapy
they`re giving him, but it`s going to be a long, drawn-out thing for his
rehabilitation,`` Harrell said. ``He`s trying to talk but cannot speak yet.
But he`s a fighter; he`s determined to get it all behind him. He`s
progressing well every day.``

Mark Shaylor grew up in Camden and attended Camden area schools
although he attended his junior and senior years in high school in Virginia.

``He decided in high school that the military was what he wanted to
do, and he made a career of it,`` Mazie Harrell said. ``He wanted to travel,
and he has traveled -- he`s seen a lot of the world.``

Shaylor has done tours in Germany, Saudi Arabia and Iraq; his current
duty station is Fairbanks, Alaska, where he lives with his wife, Melissa.

``He`s had a good career and done well,`` Harrell said.

Meanwhile, family members have been going to Walter Reed to be with
Shaylor and to support his wife, who has been staying there since Shaylor
was transferred in. But all anyone can really do at this point is continue
to pray, the Harrells said.

``It`s like his wife says; he`s in God`s hands right now, and God is
the chief doctor,`` Harrell said. ``When he decides, that`s when things will
come along.``

``I can`t wait to hear his voice again,`` Mazie Harrell said.

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