Guard Veteran Paralyzed After Surgery Sees Hope After Debt Relief
When Shawn Sanders joined the Army National Guard in 2014, he continued a generations-long family tradition. His grandfather and great-grandfather both served our country, and an uncle was a commander in the Coast Guard.
“I loved being in uniform,” said Shawn, a Mississippi native who joined the Guard at age 28 because he wanted to chart a new course in life. During eight years of service, he served as a cavalry scout and earned the rank of specialist.
He deployed to Kuwait for seven months in 2014 and to Syria for nine months in 2018.
While his unit was at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, training for the Syria deployment, Shawn was driving an armored vehicle when it hit a crater. The impact tossed the soldiers around, leaving Shawn unconscious.
He was airlifted to Beaumont Army Medical Center at Fort Bliss. Though he resumed duty and deployed after treatment, he struggled with neck and back pain, migraine headaches, and impaired cognition. He was placed on medical leave from the military in 2019 after returning from Syria.
Though he was in chronic pain, Shawn tried to maintain a normal life. He worked full time as a welder and played guitar and bass with his family band. At one of those gigs — a benefit for an animal shelter in West Point, Mississippi — Shawn met his wife, Brittany.
Shawn separated from service in 2022 at the end of his contract. He continued to work full time as a welder but struggled with pain even after undergoing neck and spine fusion surgeries.
When pain forced Shawn to quit working in 2023, they relied on his partial disability pay and Brittany’s income as a speech and language pathologist to support them and their two children, daughter Annelise, born in 2021, and son Dawson, born in 2022.
Just two months after the Sanders family welcomed daughter Aubrey in January 2024, their lives changed. Shawn became paralyzed from the waist down after undergoing a procedure to alleviate spinal pain.
Now, Shawn spends his days in his wheelchair or in the hospital bed set up in their living room. Brittany is his full-time caregiver.
Bills mounted after Brittany left her job to care for their newborn and to spend time with Shawn during the weeks he spent in the hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, more than two hours from their home.
“The gracious donors and people at Operation Homefront have been a godsend to us not only by providing financial relief but in the amount of love each and every one has shown us.” – Brittany Sanders, Wife of Shawn Sanders, Army National Guard veteran
The family savings was depleted because of reduced income and travel expenses. Utility bills were past due, and their refrigerator and washer and dryer broke.
Desperate, Brittany spent sleepless nights scouring the internet for resources. Searches led her to Operation Homefront’s Critical Financial Assistance Program®.
Funds made possible by Operation Homefront’s generous donors allowed the Sanders family to keep the lights on and replace the appliances.
Shawn and Brittany were relieved. They expressed deep gratitude for Operation Homefront and its donors.
“You all have blessed my family and given us hope,” Shawn said through tears.
Brittany echoed his sentiment.
“The gracious donors and people at Operation Homefront have been a godsend to us not only by providing financial relief but in the amount of love each and every one has shown us,” she said. “Operation Homefront stepped in when Shawn was down and could no longer provide, and for that he is forever grateful. You all have become more like family to us.”
