Combat Medic Overcomes Adversity, Brings Healing to Kandahar Province

Photo images via: ISAFMedia

One damn tough lady, wow:

ISAF.NATO

Regional Command North
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR# 2011-04-014
U.S. Army Sgt. Breanne Pye
1st Brigade Combat Team, Public Affairs Office 4th Infantry Division

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (April 20, 2011) – The world, as it appears through the eyes of a Soldier, is often black and white; a routine that must be followed, a battle that must be won, a task that must be completed which only a Soldier is equipped to handle.

Any Soldier will tell you that in the thick of a deployment, there’s always one Soldier who brings everyone together, who is larger than life and whom possesses the quiet charisma and confidence required to become the heart and soul of the team.

Spc. Samantha Romero, combat medic assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, came to Afghanistan equipped with fierce determination and all the color and compassion needed to brighten the canvas of one of the most volatile and unforgiving provinces in Afghanistan.

The 24-year-old mother of two from Madison, Wis., nearly missed her opportunity to deploy with the Raider Brigade. Romero said she was undergoing a postpartum appointment several months after the birth of her first son, when a doctor discovered multiple lumps in both of her breasts.

“I was already pregnant with my second son when the lumps were discovered,” said Romero. “They were not deemed cancerous at that time, so I decided to wait to have them removed until after my second son was born.”

Several months before the Raiders’ deployed, Romero delivered her second son. Shortly after his birth, she underwent a double mastectomy.

No doubt, many people think having a child is difficult enough. But undergoing a double mastectomy shortly after giving birth would put just about anyone ‘out of commission’ for a significant period of physical recovery time, not to mention the emotional recovery time.

Not Samantha Romero. She opted to waive her reconstructive surgery as well as her postpartum recovery time in order to deploy with her brigade to Kandahar in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.[More]

God Bless you Spc.Samantha Romero and thank you for your service.

h/t MilitaryPhotos.net

[Cross posted at TheJawaReport