I served 18 years in the Army and was medically discharged in May 2006 after I spent 18 months in Iraq in support of OIF. I have been diagnosed with PTSD, peripheral neuropathy, hearing loss and TBI with severe headaches. I recently had an MRI done and was told my brain & nervous system are deteriorating...gulf war syndrome. I will go through stages beginning with memory loss to dementia/Alzheimer's to nothing. The PTSD makes it difficult to show feelings….haven't been much of a husband in the past 5 years. My wife is my everything. Now we don't have a lot of time left together so we want to make memories. My only memory of NASCAR was the Daytona 500 in 2004...I was deployed watching the race on AFN. On lap 100 we were attacked and a rocket exploded near me. I was tossed like a rag doll and when I woke I had blood running down my face and shrapnel in my head. My wife grew up in the south and has been around racing all her life. She always said Daytona is something you have to experience in person at least once in your life. So this is what we want to experience together. My Hero’s Wish is to walk on the track and see a real pit road, maybe get a picture or an autograph or two. This will be a memory that I hope we will keep us going when the going gets tough.
U.S. Army (Veteran)
1988 - 2006
Thank You Message from the Hero:
I want to say thank you very much. Eddie thanks alot for everything you did. What you all do you will never know what it means to some. Faith and I had one of the greatest times of our lives. You allowed us to go into the pits, sign the start finish line before the race, and most importantly my wife and I smiled for the first time since we dont know when. My wife took tons of pictures so I could remember what you all allowed us to do. I can't expressed what a great time we had. Thank you all so very much. Paul and Faith
- paul
Donate
Your $175,000 donated will help us reach our 2024 goal of 100% of our Hero's Wishes fulfilled. Please click below to donate and make a difference in someone's life today.
Our Goal
$175,000
$33,185
$175,000
$33,185
