‘I Felt Like I Was Drowning’ Before Assistance, Army Veteran Says
Army veteran Nicole Trost followed in the footsteps of her father and uncle when she enlisted in the military in 2011.
“College was hard for me, and I felt like I needed to be a better person,” she said, adding that she knew a military career could give her purpose.
In her four years of service, Nicole applied computer-aided design skills to her job as a geospatial engineer. She was assigned to the air and missile command at Fort Bliss to create maps and work with secret and top-secret internets.
In early 2014, Nicole became paralyzed after undergoing surgery for bone spurs on her lower spine, a procedure doctors described as minor. She also experienced two staph infections in her spine. She had to relearn how to walk, and she developed fibromyalgia.
The complications brought her planned 20-year military career to an end with medical retirement in late 2014. She received an honorable discharge just six days before her four-year service anniversary.
Nicole settled in DeKalb, Illinois, near family as she adapted to civilian life. She and her fiancé, Anthony Schmeda, have a 5-year-old daughter, Evelynn. His 15-year-old daughter, Lilly, also lives with them part-time. Nicole is a stay-home mom. She lives with chronic joint pain and PTSD and is unable to work.
The family relies on Nicole’s disability pay and the income Anthony earns as a warehouse forklift operator.
Over summer, he lost income because when he took time off work to care for a family member going through a mental-health crisis. The family member was living with Anthony and Nicole and was hospitalized after injuring Nicole.
The family budget strained under added fuel costs for trips to the hospital and rising grocery costs – especially for gluten-free items Nicole requires because of a gluten allergy. A recent move, made necessary because of a rent increase, had depleted their savings.
After struggling to make ends meet, Nicole reached out to Operation Homefront and its Critical Financial Assistance (CFA) Program®.
“It was a lifesaver to not feel like a failure to my family.” – Nicole Trost, Army veteran
“I feel like I am drowning,” she stated in her application. Still, she said, asking for help was difficult.
“I’ve had a job since I was 15. But I have little eyes on me, and I want my daughter to know it’s OK to ask for help,” she said.
Thanks to Operation Homefront’s generous donors, Nicole was able to buy two weeks of groceries and catch up on her car payment.
The respite brought more than budget relief, and Nicole expressed gratitude to the donors who made it possible.
“(Donating) is so selfless. I don’t think (donors) realize how much some people are struggling and don’t want to ask for help,” she said. “It was a lifesaver to not feel like a failure to my family.”
