"I WANT MY SON BACK"

Brain injury means he'll 'never be the same'
By Carol Ann Alaimo
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Published: 09.04.2005

EXCERPTS:


Erik Castillo is one of hundreds of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans treated for brain injuries inflicted by rockets, bullets or roadside bombs. In worst cases, like his, the healing process is one of the most harrowing journeys in human experience, experts say.

"It breaks my heart to see him suffering like this," said Maria Castillo, 39. The pain was so great that she started abusing alcohol and later took anti-depressants as the enormity of her son's situation sank in. "I would cry and yell at the doctor: 'The person in that bed is not my son! I want my son back, the one I had before this happened.'"

Maria Castillo said she would like to believe her son's sacrifice and her family's suffering was meaningful on a larger scale, that the Iraq War was a just cause that will make the world safer. But she does not think so.

She believes America went to war without adequate justification because the president wanted revenge on Saddam Hussein, who reportedly once tried to have the elder President Bush killed. "I'm so angry at our president, I can't even stand to look at him," she said.