Free treatment for veterans with PTSD now available after $1.5 million in Kentucky funding
Our TBI treatment program made the news last night at 1000, airing multiple times this morning on the same network, WDRB. Please share in your networks. We’re making progress, just not fast enough.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — An estimated 12,000 Kentucky veterans suffer from traumatic brain injuries and PTSD, but $1.5 million in state money is now available to help them using a specific kind of treatment not offered through the VA.
And the state investment is all thanks to a local veteran’s family, who fought for years to get it approved.
That veteran, Col. Ronald Ray, was a highly decorated United States Marine and a lawyer and went on to serve on two presidential commissions.
But the wounds he suffered in war would go on to severely impact his life some decades later. Ray’s widow, Eunice, tried everything she could to help her husband at the advice of doctors, including Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy, which gives patients pure oxygen in a pressurized chamber.
“For TBIs, for those who have had cognitive impairment, it seems to really help with them,” Arnold said. “It gives them a higher level of cognitive function, which helps them to have a more fulfilling life. … People are able to hold down jobs. People are able to function better within societal norms things like that.”
Eric Koledia, Ronald Ray’s brother-in-law, said they witnessed first hand what at TBI does when it’s untreated. But they were refused HBOT treatment for Ray in Louisville. Instead, they had to travel to Panama and Florida.
“I became frustrated because I thought ‘Why would a person who is a veteran, who’s given so much, not be able to walk in and get the treatments?'” Eunice Ray said.
That set off a mission for Eunice Ray and Koleda. Together, they fought for the state legislature to approve HBOT for Veterans in Kentucky. Their efforts worked and, not only that, during the last session, lawmakers dedicated $1.5 million to pay for it. All of the treatment would be at no cost to veterans who qualify thanks to the approved state money.
Now, they’re trying to get the word out.
“We’re hoping to treat, over the next two years, 100-150 veterans,” Koleda said.
The doctors and technicians at Clark Regional Medical Center’s Wound Care Center have seen the success of HBOT therapy on veterans first hand.
“It is something that’s got significant, improved evidence behind it that is really working out for veterans and helping with their cognitive issues,” Arnold said.
The testimonials from veterans, in particular, are powerful.
“Like 10 treatments into the actual process of HBOT, everything started coming back online …” Capt. Matt Smothermon, who served in Afghanistan said in an HBOT testimonial. ‘I wasn’t able to sleep before. … Now, I could finally sleep. Where I constantly stressed out, I no longer was.”
And former Navy Seal Brandon Cruz.
“The symptoms of TBI and PTSD, they marry each other sensitivity to light mood swings,’ former Navy Seal Brandon Cruz said in another video. “And I wish that everybody that had a chance to do the treatment would do the treatment, because it saved me. … The pain goes away. Does it completely heal everything? No. But, by and large, it restores a higher level of normalcy to these veterans they haven’t seen in years.”
The free HBOT therapy is now available to qualifying Kentucky veterans at hospitals in Louisville, Winchester and even in southern Indiana. Arnold said the treatments can help to address the veteran suicide rate, which the latest data shows is 17 per day in the U.S.
“It’s proven to help with that,” Arnold said. “So my strong opinion is, yeah, it needs to be part of that treatment regiment to prevent that.”
In her late husband’s memory, Eunice Ray is urging veterans to take action and reach out for help.
If you are a veteran and want to learn more about the treatment, click here.
