A Veteran Story | Scott West

Scott's Story

Scott West Served in the U.S. Army from 2003-2007. After 9/11 he made the decision to join and joined as soon as he could at 17. He went through basic training in Oklahoma and Advanced Individual Training in Texas. He then went to Georgia for airborne school.

He signed up as a 14 Sierra, or an avenger crew member, to shoot down enemy planes, but was switched to a 19 Delta, where he would be kicking down doors and finding high value targets.

He shipped out. He was in Camp Anaconda with the 101st Airborne Division gathering info on targets, doing cache searches and quick action response – meaning he could be on a battlefield within 15 minutes.

Three days before he was supposed to come home, they were doing right seat ride where half of the new team coming in to replace their team did a ride along to train and find out everything they do. He had just gotten off a 12 hour tour guard, when he was asked to go back out. Scott normally drove the rear vehicle in his group but was asked for Scott to go drove the front one.

If you don't know, the driver in the front is responsible for everyone behind them. The 16 people or so behind follow the moves of the front driver. They were checking on a team, Tango 1-0 located in Tampa (code names). They had to travel along this road where there were known terrorist cells. They knew what would happen on most roads, fire, IEDs, so on. This road was known for IEDs and it was the road his friend had passed away on just earlier.

"You could go down the road and be perfectly fine and turn around three hours later and have an IED."

They called this road IED Valley or Death Valley. It was about Dark 30 when it gets dark, and you can't tell what kind of vehicle is in front of you—the military drive down the middle of both lanes to avoid the shoulders where IEDs are usually buried.

They come up to the hole the friend had passed away on, and it's filled in with dirt. When it's military filled, they fill it with something solid like concrete so they know it's safe to pass over. When they rolled up and realized it was dirt, Scott had to make a decision. They can refill that dirt and put an IED back in it, or they put an IED on the other side, knowing the military will try to veer and avoid the old hole. He had a 50/50 chance.

He was told to veer to the left, and he saw a wire. He jerked the wheel back right to miss the wire, but it was pressure detonated. The front left tire hit the wire, and the IED was in the same hole. One that normally would have been 3ft wide and 2 ft deep blew a hole 8 ft wide and 7 ft deep. The truck flew in the air and blew Scott's door a half a football field away. Both his lungs collapsed instantly, he lost both legs and crushed his femur. Everyone else in his vehicle was okay except for him.

The guys rallied around him to keep him talking, the blood flowing, alive, talking about what they would do when they got home in a few days. The first 99 Metavac they called, they thought was a training exercise, and they had to call a second time. Scott bled out on the field for 55 minutes. They had put 9 tourniquets on his body from all the shrapnel.

He flatlined three times in the Black Hock flight back. They put him on the first flight from Iraq to Landstuhl, Germany, and the first flight back to the US to Walter Reed Army Medical, where he went straight into the ICU.

They had to cut his medication so he could feel the pain, bring his heart rate back up, and keep him awake. They would give him the medicine again, this went on for 20 hours. It was 4 ½ to 5 days between his first flatline in the field to him waking up next to his parents in the hospital. He went to hug his mom, and his stumps came right up into his face because there was no weight.

Recovery

Over the next 38 days, Scott had 30 surgeries. His parents left after 30 days and he fell into a depression.

In 2005, there was no social media or online group to help him know that he wasn't alone. He didn't think he would have kids or a wife or ever be gung ho again. 3 months into Scott's stay, a gentleman came in in his dress blues and spoke to him. He didn't hear a word, and wasn't receptive or interested.

Later that same day, a man they called Milkshake Mike, who brought milkshakes to the 58 and 59 wards, asked about the guy he had sent to see Scott. Scott was confused. Mike said, "He's just like you, he's a double amputee." Scott couldn't even tell. Scott began doing everything he could, going to physical therapy twice a day and working to get better.

4 ½ months into his stay, Scott was invited to go mono skiing in Colorado. The first day was amazing, he got to go fast again. The second day, he noticed a single leg amputee fly past him. Scott asked if he could go snowboarding – his mind was set. Against advice they hooked him up to a snowboard and he went 50 feet down the hill. It didn't matter, he felt alive again. And he began more extreme adventures.

Getting Out

He spent 13 months at Walter Reed and got out in 2007. When he moved back home to Branson, Missouri away from all the other veterans, all the other amputees and men who knew what he was going through, the depression set back in.

He began drinking, drugging, and had some bumps along the way. He went to rehab for the first time in 2011 for a pain pill addiction, and in 2013 was pulled over and fought charges for his choices, spending his first time in jail. He knew something needed to change.

He went to rehab for 30 days then joined a year program, after that year. He had signed up to do it again, when a gentleman from his unit that was there when Scott was hit called him up and told him about Sheep Dog.

He was skeptical, knowing that other trips he had been on were drink fests and not healthy. He was 19 months clean at that time. The friend kept hounding on Scott, that Sheep Dog was different and to come sky diving with them. So Scott went.

Scott West and More Sheep Dog Members

Joining Sheep Dog

Scott moved out of the halfway house he was living in and moved in with a fellow Sheep Dog. He began volunteering all the time he could and was there once when a secretary needed to get ahold of a veteran. Scott sent him a text and explained who he was, and the man called him right back.

"I am a double amputee and I've been through the worst sleeping in a car trying to find my next meal to being the Outdoor Adventure Coordinator and now promoted to Outdoor Adventure Director. I always say my life was saved twice, once in that Black Hawk Helicopter and once by Sheep Dog. I volunteer full time with Sheep Dog – it does more for me than what they get out of me."

Scott and Bridgette met shortly after Scott found Sheep Dog, on the upward start of the lowest point of his live. He was able to use his story as a powerful testimony for what doing the work looks like.

At Sheep Dog, they say that you have two mountains, your first is your service, the second is after you get out. And Scott is on his second mountain serving Sheep Dog.

Bridgette is different from most military spouses as they met 10 years post amputation. She was a stay-at-home mom for a couple of years but now works as the Director of Development and Marketing for Sheep Dog and has worked on staff since 2019.

A Message for Veterans and First Responders

You are not alone. If you have trauma from being in the military, as a fire fighter, police officer, or EMS, Sheep Dog is here to support you. These events are fully sponsored and paid for.

There are 5 Modules in an Outdoor Adventure to give you tools to use in every day life. Even if you walk away with only one of those tools, the goal is to make that much of a difference. The hope is that you will be led to Warrior PATHH where there is longer programming and many more modules.

The main goal is to Get Off The Couch and find your place again where you can serve and be a Sheep Dog.

Double Amputee Scott West signing the wall

Looking Forward

Sheepdog usually offers 12 Warrior PATHH opportunities a year, this year, they are doing 18, and in 2024, they will do 24. There is already a waiting list for the programs, 3-4 months in advance, but they can't wait to help as many people as possible turn their trauma into growth.

Then pass it on, give Sheep Dog the name, or reach out to someone you think Sheep Dog could help.

Learn more about Sheep Dog on their website or by following them on social, stay tuned here for more on our partnership with Sheep Dog.