Pfc. Kyle Kinmartin, Staff Sgt. Isidoro Castillo and Spc. Matthew Wright, from left, talk about their injuries while recovering a traumatic brain injury center at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan. Military officials say new clinics like this one have meant more soldiers returning to their units after an injury without ever leaving the war.
(AP)By KRISTIN M. HALL
Associated Press
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – The traumatic brain injury that Army Staff Sgt. Isidoro Castillo suffered when a suicide bomber attacked his unit in Afghanistan could have meant the end of his deployment.
Instead, Castillo’s doctors handled his injury without sending him back to the United States, part of a military effort to better treat and track brain injuries that have become a signature affliction of the war.
Castillo, originally from Fayetteville, N.C., described the bombing days later while he was recovering in a new specialized housing unit for soldiers being treated for brain injuries.