A group of 18 students from Fair Lawn High School (FLHS), Bergen County, raised enough money over the 2008-09 school year to sponsor an assistance dog for Army Staff Sgt. Heriberto Vidro, who acquired numerous disabilities after getting caught in an ambush just a few days after his deployment to Iraq.
Vidro, 48, has lived in Sayreville for nearly 15 years with his wife and three kids. He was deployed to Kuwait in November 2002 and was transferred to Iraq shortly after the war began.
Part of the 773rd Transportation Co., his unit was transporting fuel to the 3rd Infantry Division on the front lines when they were ambushed. Upon abandoning his truck and running for cover to help fight, something nearby exploded, throwing Vidro into the air and causing him to land on his back. This led to many internal injuries. The Army was unaware of the severity of his injuries and he remained stationed in Iraq until the end of his tour in 2003, he said.
JEFF GRANIT staff The assistance dog opens the refrigerator for Heriberto Vidro in his Sayreville home. JEFF GRANIT staff The assistance dog opens the refrigerator for Heriberto Vidro in his Sayreville home. “I didn’t think much about it when I first came back from Iraq. I didn’t think anything was wrong at first,” Vidro said. “But when they took me to the Veterans Association [VA] and did all these tests, that’s when everything started popping up.”
After visiting a doctor he realized his kidneys were affected, and that he had two herniated discs on his neck and two on his back. He also suffered nerve problems and muscle spasms. Vidro is unable to sit for long periods at a time, sometimes cannot differentiate between hot and cold temperatures or speak correctly, and has short-term memory loss, which means that everything he does has to be written down. He also has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which sometimes affects his ability to sleep through the night. Vidro finally went in for surgery in 2008 for some of his injuries, and will go in for another operation next month.
One day last year, Vidro was visiting Fort Monmouth, Monmouth County, when he noticed a woman make a command to a dog and then saw the dog run into an aisle and return with an object for the woman. Amazed by what he had seen, Vidro and his wife, Deidre, began speaking to the woman and inquiring about her dog. Shortly thereafter, the Vidros filed an application to the nonprofit Canines for Combat Veterans, a part of the National Education for Assistance Dog Service (NEADS), to see if Vidro qualified. He was eventually informed that he did qualify, would receive the dog for free, and that the dog, which cost $20,000, was being sponsored by a group of students.
The large expense is due to the fact that each dog is trained to the specific needs of the combat veteran, according to Kathy Foreman, head of Canines for Combat Veterans.
Upon their decision to undertake the service project, the students requested a veteran from New Jersey and were matched with Vidro shortly after he was approved. When Vidro finally met his sponsors, he was taken aback that such a small group had raised so much money for a stranger.
“That’s what really had me going, that only 18 kids who don’t know anything about me took all this time to raise thousands of dollars. … They went out of their way to raise all that money,” Vidro said. “Every time I think about it I just feel like crying because to do so much for someone they don’t know, to take a total stranger under their wing is just incredible.”
Vidro, 48, has lived in Sayreville for nearly 15 years with his wife and three kids. He was deployed to Kuwait in November 2002 and was transferred to Iraq shortly after the war began.
Part of the 773rd Transportation Co., his unit was transporting fuel to the 3rd Infantry Division on the front lines when they were ambushed. Upon abandoning his truck and running for cover to help fight, something nearby exploded, throwing Vidro into the air and causing him to land on his back. This led to many internal injuries. The Army was unaware of the severity of his injuries and he remained stationed in Iraq until the end of his tour in 2003, he said.
JEFF GRANIT staff The assistance dog opens the refrigerator for Heriberto Vidro in his Sayreville home. JEFF GRANIT staff The assistance dog opens the refrigerator for Heriberto Vidro in his Sayreville home. “I didn’t think much about it when I first came back from Iraq. I didn’t think anything was wrong at first,” Vidro said. “But when they took me to the Veterans Association [VA] and did all these tests, that’s when everything started popping up.”
After visiting a doctor he realized his kidneys were affected, and that he had two herniated discs on his neck and two on his back. He also suffered nerve problems and muscle spasms. Vidro is unable to sit for long periods at a time, sometimes cannot differentiate between hot and cold temperatures or speak correctly, and has short-term memory loss, which means that everything he does has to be written down. He also has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which sometimes affects his ability to sleep through the night. Vidro finally went in for surgery in 2008 for some of his injuries, and will go in for another operation next month.
One day last year, Vidro was visiting Fort Monmouth, Monmouth County, when he noticed a woman make a command to a dog and then saw the dog run into an aisle and return with an object for the woman. Amazed by what he had seen, Vidro and his wife, Deidre, began speaking to the woman and inquiring about her dog. Shortly thereafter, the Vidros filed an application to the nonprofit Canines for Combat Veterans, a part of the National Education for Assistance Dog Service (NEADS), to see if Vidro qualified. He was eventually informed that he did qualify, would receive the dog for free, and that the dog, which cost $20,000, was being sponsored by a group of students.
The large expense is due to the fact that each dog is trained to the specific needs of the combat veteran, according to Kathy Foreman, head of Canines for Combat Veterans.
Upon their decision to undertake the service project, the students requested a veteran from New Jersey and were matched with Vidro shortly after he was approved. When Vidro finally met his sponsors, he was taken aback that such a small group had raised so much money for a stranger.
“That’s what really had me going, that only 18 kids who don’t know anything about me took all this time to raise thousands of dollars. … They went out of their way to raise all that money,” Vidro said. “Every time I think about it I just feel like crying because to do so much for someone they don’t know, to take a total stranger under their wing is just incredible.”
Must read; it will make you smile…and cry…two of our most human and natural healing qualities.