Port Orchard Soldier Loses Long Fight To Survive

[Capt_Picard 0]

Port Orchard Soldier Loses Long Fight To Survive

 

June 28, 2006

 

By KOMO Staff

 

SEATTLE - When a roadside bomb explosion in Iraq left 19-year-old Devon Gibbons severely injured, no one expected him to survive his wounds. He had lost both legs and his right arm in the explosion, and suffered severe burns.

 

But for 10 weeks, Gibbons fought to stay alive. His family was by his side at an Army hospital in Texas.

 

But on Friday, Devon lost his battle and passed away. His parents just returned to Seattle Tuesday and wanted to take time to talk about their son.

 

Devon may have been just 19, but his parents and others say he taught all of them so much. They called him a true Calvary scout and valiant man and say his determination and strength really set an example for all, and they remember his smile and playful personality.

 

"He's an amazing kid," said his mother Bonnie Gibbons. "We're really proud of him."

 

"His determination and his mental attitude was there (at the hospital)," added his father Mel Gibbons. "But his body just couldn't be sustained from the injuries."

 

Mel and Bonnie sat with Devon for those 10 weeks, through pain, surgeries, and hallucinations. But they also shared smiles and love.

 

"The days he was talking, he was quite the personality kid," said Bonnie Gibbons. "He was a joker. He would tell them when they were brushing is teeth that, 'you're done,' and (the doctors) would say, 'no we're not quite done' and he'd say, 'oh, you're done.' "

 

"It was just like they lost a brother; the male and female nurses," Mel Gibbons said. "They were so close to Devon. Three weeks ago he was winking at them."

 

Military friends also visited Devon. And on the day's Mel didn't read Devon the Soldier's creed, those soldiers recited it by heart.

 

"It kept reminding him of what his mission was and he enjoyed it because he's a soldier," Mel Gibbons said.

 

But on Friday, Devon's body could no longer fight the infection or the pain.

 

"One of the last things he said to me was that he knew the Lord loved him and he loved the Lord and he knew he would be OK," his mother said. "Then he asked me to come over and give him a hug."

 

Devon will be laid to rest Saturday with full military honors at the family's church in Port Orchard.

(link to video of the story here)

 

To note I did know him, not as well as most, but still did know him from elementary to high school. I can't place what school or year because of all the moving I did back then. He was in my graduating class of 2005 and is the fourth, so far, to die from the class. The first three were in a car wreck and held on for about six weeks. If my class was anything, it was being stubborn, and still is to this day. I plan to go to the funereal Saturday.

[Kor37 9]

Thats a very tragic story and sadly only one of thousands I'm sure.

[mj 7]

This is the young man who was the subject of your television spot, CP. So you knew him. That is probably why he came across so clearly through the images you shared

in that 33 second program.

 

Port Orchard.

 

Well, I will pray for the family. The prayer group I belong to continues to pray for our country, the soldiers, and our leaders.

 

We have lost one or two students from the institution where I teach. I feel a strong loss when these young people make the ultimate sacrifice, and I feel for the families.