Brent Hernandez Family
This Father’s Day, families will celebrate the love and devotion of the fathers, or father figures in their lives. For military dads, challenges range from being away for long periods of time to difficulties in acclimating to family life upon return from deployment. More often than not, those who have been deployed return with both physical and emotional injuries to overcome. One Naples family who knows these challenges all too well is the Hernandez family.
Life changing
In early April 2010, Army Sergeant Brent Hernandez was just 13 days into his deployment in Afghanistan when he was seriously wounded. At the time, he was a soldier in the 75th Ranger Regiment, a Special Operations light infantry elite unit, when the aircraft he had been riding in crashed. In moments, his life and the lives of his family changed forever. Given the injuries he had sustained, collapsed lung, ripped intestine, and traumatic brain injury, he truly was lucky to be alive.
As a result of his injuries, Brent struggles daily with debilitating pain along with tinnitus, an often destabilizing ringing in the ears. He also deals with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Brent credits his wife and daughters for giving him the motivation not only to endure a lengthy rehabilitation process but to conquer the challenges of being a wounded warrior in order to be an engaged husband and father. “It’s definitely a continuous process,” he says. “Every day brings a different struggle but my family keeps me balanced and on my feet.”
Being in Naples and close to the beach has helped this young family stay active and involved with one another throughout Brent’s continued rehabilitation. Thanks to Building Homes for Heroes, the Hernandez family not only has a wonderful family home, it’s also adapted to Brent’s physical needs. Since 2006, Building Homes for Heroes has been making a difference in the lives of the severely wounded military men and women by building new homes, and modifying existing homes, to meet the needs of the injured veterans who have selflessly served our country. The homes are mortgage-free–removing a financial burden for the family.
Welcoming community
Since moving to Naples from Georgia, the Hernandez family has made great friends and adjusted well to their new community. “We truly feel like we are supposed to be here,” Brent says. “It’s a great place and a welcoming community.” In fact, when the Hernandez family arrived at their remodeled Victoria Park home last December, the already-supportive neighborhood welcomed them with cheers and fanfare. For Brent and his family, the gift of a home in Naples has been yet another life-changing experience. It’s a positive one that has enabled him to focus on being a great dad to daughters Makennah, 5, and Annastyn, 3.
Continued recovery
Although he no longer does intensive physical therapy, the recovery continues and Brent credits his wife and children for teaching him patience, which is sometimes difficult for people with PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury (TMI). He says that leading a healthy lifestyle, golfing, and working out have helped him with physical and emotional recovery.
Currently, Brent works with Building Homes for Heroes and the Red Sox Foundation-Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base program for veterans with TMI and PTSD. He enjoys spending his time helping others by sharing his story with those who have experienced similar injuries. Having spent three years undergoing physical therapy, Brent has an interest in earning a degree in that field as well as in becoming a personal trainer. He credits his daughters with giving him the daily motivation to not only recover, but to continue to move forward. “My daughters don’t leave me any time for laying around or feeling sorry for myself,” he says. “They’re my motivation to get up and get going.”
To learn more about Building Homes for Heroes, visit: www.buildinghomesforheroes.org
For information about the Home Base program, visit: www.homebaseprogram.org.
Nicole Flesvig Bruland, PhD, is a Naples area educator, writer and mom who enjoys going on adventures with her husband, Bronze, and sons Jacob, 12, and Evan, 8.