A North Carolina man who was injured while serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan is making progressive strides in his extensive rehabilitation effort with the assistance of physical and occupational therapists, The Winston-Salem Journal reports.
Twenty-year-old Jonathan Chance Cleary was comatose for a few weeks after enduring head trauma and broken bones after an improvised explosive device detonated by the vehicle in which he and three additional troops were traveling on May 6. His step-grandfather credited the hard work of people holding physical and occupational therapy jobs.
"He is doing really good. He's doing all kinds of therapy. He's doing physical therapy, occupational therapy. They're working with his memory," Martin Cheek told the news source. "He's got a good attitude. It is really remarkable."
Though his ability to survive the dire trauma was initially in doubt, Cleary has made significant progress. He presently is talking with family members at a veterans' hospital in Virginia. His therapists have him writing down his daily activity as a strategy of enhancing his short-term memory function.
Career opportunities for occupational therapists are projected to increase 33 percent in the 10-year period leading to 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.