The William (Billy) Kerr "Home for a Hero" Project

Thanks to Andrew McLean for the pointer:

Cpl Bill Kerr joined the Irish Regiment of Canada in 2003. In 2005 he volunteered for a tour in Afghanistan and after deploying in 2006, returned to Sudbury in the spring of 2007. Shortly after his return to Sudbury, he volunteered again to deploy overseas, and began his pre-deployment training before the Afghan sand was out of his kit.

After deploying again in September 2008, he was critically wounded while on foot patrol by a remote detonated improvised explosive device on October 15th 2008. He was evacuated to Landstuhl, Germany, and then on to hospital in Ottawa, where he has been living and recovering since.

The injuries Bill sustained will leave him with the distinction of being Canada’s only Afghanistan veteran triple-amputee, having lost both his legs and his left arm. As can be expected with these injuries, Bill needs a home that is fully wheelchair accessible.

The Kerrs need our help:
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Since his injuries, Bill Kerr’s friends and family have begun the "Home for a Hero" fundraising drive, designed to help with the expense of building an accessible home for Bill and his family.

Bill has two daughters, and is getting married this August to fiancée Tracy. He is intending to walk his new wife down the aisle on his new legs.

How can you help?
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Donations can be made at any RBC Royal Bank.

You will need the following information:
Branch Bank Account
05002 003 5051024
Contact Info
Email: jeffblack-at-rwdsu-dot-ca
Website: http://www.rwdsu.ca

A lot of attention is paid to those who give their lives in service of their country, because we know their names. Even on this site, we keep the list in the sidebar.

But although they don't have the same public profile - and in many cases don't want the attention - we should help the wounded where and when we can.

Update: Thanks to Tony for the pointer to some additional information on Kerr:

Kerr, 41, is a reservist who volunteered for his second deployment to Afghanistan, where he served as an embedded mentor for the Afghan National Police. “I thought it was something worth doing,” Kerr said of his decision to return. “I felt like it wasn’t done.”

Kerr’s second tour of duty was a near-constant fight, with the enemy uncomfortably close to his base. “At 300 meters you got shot at, at 400 meters you were in a big fight, and at 500 meters you were at their door,” he said.

But as an infantryman, he said “wanting to get in the thick of it” was simply “what you do, … part of your mentality,” so he embraced the mission as he patrolled with the “Razorbacks,” a unit that blended infantry and military police troops.

During a foot patrol in October, Kerr was the fifth soldier into a doorway when a remote-controlled blast severed both legs and his left arm from his body. He never lost consciousness, and remembers looking at what was left of his body and expecting -- even wanting -- to die.

He didn’t. Rushed for care at Kandahar Airfield, then Landstuhl Army Medical Center in Germany, then back to Canada, Kerr cheated the death he had expected. Less than two months after his injury, he was took his first steps on two prostheses. He expects to be able to walk with a cane by late April.

...

Both Trauner and Kerr want to stay on active duty. “I really, really do,” Trauner said, while conceding that he most likely will have to move into an administrative position. “I’m very proud to stay.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” echoed Kerr. But unlike Trauner, he envisions himself being back in an infantry job. “I want to be kicking in doors again,” he said. “I would be back there now if I could.”

Kerr dismisses what he sometimes hears on TV or reads in the papers about the mission in Afghanistan going downhill. “Opinions are always opinions,” he said, adding that people who haven’t been there don’t really know what’s going on there.

“I think we are doing some good and making progress there,” he said. “I felt really good going into this mission. I left like I was really contributing.”

What an exceptional individual.