Family friend hopes to raise money to help former Bedford resident’s recovery
By LAURA FRASER Staff Reporter Tue, Dec 28 - 4:53 AM
VVi 28 Dec 2010 db
Two weeks ago, a feeding tube would have been giving Adam Keys most of his dinner. Instead, the wounded soldier and his family enjoyed Christmas turkey with all the trimmings in the trauma unit at a Maryland hospital, where Keys has lived since August. The former Bedford resident’s room has slowly become less crowded; in the last month his tracheotomy tube and feeding line have been removed. Other machines have also gradually disappeared. His mother has charted his progress online since Keys was injured in a blast from an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan on July 14. The explosion killed his best friend and brother in arms, Jesse Reed. "It’s pretty sad when you start going back and back and reading when (his mother) first started writing it," says Debra Taylor, a Bedford resident and longtime family friend. "It breaks your heart. We always cry when we read it." The first entries chronicle Keys’ physical agony, written in his mother’s determined, yet hopeful, voice. Although Keys survived the explosion, he soon contracted an infection in his bloodstream that forced doctors to constrict the blood flow to organs, his mother writes. "His hands, feet and skin suffered because of this," Julie Keys wrote in August. "He had to have both feet and his left hand amputated. His skin also started to die. However, through all this time, he fought to remain alive."
Since August, Keys has visited the operating room two or three times each week, typically for skin grafts or to go through the excruciating process of having the dressings covering his damaged skin peeled off and changed. But Keys’ will to live has helped him take small steps towards improvement, Taylor says. He can now sit in a wheelchair for a short time nearly every day so he can get outside and feel fresh air on his face. Taylor hopes to raise funds to pay for items needed to make Keys more comfortable when he moves to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., for physical therapy next month. He is expected to be there for at least two years. "He’s got a lot of things to relearn," Taylor said. "It’s like being a baby and learning how to walk again, and it’ll be awhile before they put artificial legs on him." His home will likely need a wheelchair ramp so he can visit his wife, Rosie, and his five-year-old stepson. While the military will pay for a basic wheelchair, Taylor said an electric one would be easier for Keys until he regains strength in his upper body. The family would have to pay for the difference, she said. They will be holding a silent auction and comedy night March 5 at Brewster’s in Bedford. Tickets can be purchased by calling Taylor at 835-8072 or Joanne Roach at 431-5595. An account will be set up for Keys at the Bedford TD Bank after Jan. 5.