The change in one local veteran was so drastic, his children were compelled to ask, “Dad, is that you?”
The improvement in overall wellbeing experienced by this veteran and father after two weeks at Resiliency Brain Health, a center for neurological recovery and whole body wellness in Coppell, Texas, left him unrecognizable to his own family.
Yet another local veteran whose life was transformed in a fortnight at the Texas clinic, Rob Mitchell of Bradford, said, “What they’re doing in two weeks’ time down there is changing lives.”
So now Mitchell is on a new mission: Ensuring veterans can access its life-altering treatments.
The center, according to its website, “was founded by Dr. Scharlene Gaudet on the principle of treating the entire body when helping patients recover from neurological injury.”
“The science that she has and protocols (Gaudet) has are so phenomenal,” Mitchell said. “She couldn’t believe I graduated college with high honors with how bad my brain injury was.”
He wasn’t sleeping anyway, so why not read and reread and reread and reread the course material?
Mitchell, a Bradford Central Christian graduate, is a veteran of the U.S. Army, serving 1996 to 2015 with the 82nd Airborne as well as the 3rd Infantry, 1st Cavalry and 10th Mountain divisions.
In retirement he served as a peer support mentor with the Wounded Warrior Project, is active with Veterans of Foreign Wars and became involved with the Western Pennsylvania Chapter of Defenders of Freedom, defendersoffreedom.us.
Donna Cranston founded Defenders of Freedom in Dallas, welcoming troops home, sending care packages and helping veterans transition out of the military. When her son, a veteran of multiple deployments, began having issues she set out to find help.
“She linked up with these doctors,” Mitchell explained, “and the next thing you know they’re starting this clinic.”
Mitchell said he was introduced to Cranston at a fundraiser golf tournament the chapter stages in Pittsburgh.
“She knew just by looking at me that I had issues,” he said. “For six years she kept begging me (to go to the clinic).”
During his time in service, Mitchell recounts three IED explosions and a fall from a roof during combat, not to mention the many jumps executed with the 82nd. He served multiple tours in Iraq and was medevaced out several times.
“I personally went through all the effects of Post Traumatic Stress,” Mitchell said. “I dealt with sleeplessness, anxiety and depression as well as functional movement, balance, vision and cognitive problems. I averaged four to five migraines a week.
“It was the same comment every veteran says, ‘There’s always someone worse than me. Get them through the clinic.’ Little did I know, I had one of the worst TBIs the clinic had seen.”
Finally relenting in early 2020, he made the trip to Texas and completed the center’s protocols, following up with their prescribed “homework” regarding things like diet and exercise.
He hasn’t had a migraine since March of 2020.
“(The clinic) was actually able to reverse (the symptoms) in two weeks’ time,” Mitchell declared. “The VA is notorious for just handing out medication to fix problems. The VA — they don’t have any program like this, nor will they fund it.”
Mitchell stated the centers’ costs range from $10,000 to $13,000, depending on the treatment required. Four to six post-9/11 veterans go through the program on rolling two-week rotations.
“Our organization (Defenders of Freedom) is footing the bill for it, sending hundreds of veterans a year through this program,” Mitchell said. “We’re searching for veterans who have suffered from traumatic brain injuries — we want to get them down there.”
They aim to send two to three veterans from the McKean County region through the program each year.
Founder Donna Cranston shares in a video posted on the Defenders of Freedom Instagram page, “Your donations help us send veterans to receive life-changing treatment, we have seen remarkable results for every veteran that we have sent through the clinic.”
The center’s website continues, “The human body is a complex, interconnected set of systems that can thrive in perfect harmony – or struggle with immense conflict when improperly balanced.”
