Derek McGinnis with his three sons. Derek served 11 years in the Navy as a hospital corpsman, losing his left leg to a suicide bomber attack in
Fallujah in 2004.
Source: Facebook

The Northern California chapter www.homeaidnc.org of HomeAid America (charitable arm of the Building Industry Association), helped get veteran Derek McGinnis' yard built in Discovery Bay, Calif., a community (pop. 13,352) 60 miles east of San Francisco. The chapter project manager, Kirsten Fischer, met with Derek, and paired him with Pacific Landscaping, which donated the landscape installation, and Village Nurseries, which donated 70 plants.
Photos: HomeAid America, Northern California chapter

Derek McGinnis served in the Navy as a hospital corpsman for 11 years. On Nov. 9, 2004, while seated on the passenger side of a Humvee ambulance in Fallujah on the way to give medical assistance to wounded Marines, a Mercedes Benz carrying homemade explosives slammed into his passenger door. He suffered traumatic brain injury and extensive shrapnel wounds, including to the eye. Most traumatic, however, was the amputation of his left leg above the knee.

McGinnis spent difficult years rehabilitating at Bethesda Naval Hospital, Walter Reed Army Medical Center and at the Palo Alto Veterans Hospital. A flexible prosthetic allowed him to walk and run again. He was employed as a program support assistant at the VA in Palo Alto, then become the amputee advocate for the American Pain Foundation (APF), helping wounded soldiers connect with counseling and other services.

In 2009, he author Exit Wounds: A Survival Guide to Pain Management for Returning Veterans and Their Families, written in collaboration with Stephen Braun of the American Pain Foundation. The book tells Derek's story, relates his struggles to overcome his traumatic injuries, and the support he received from his family and fellow veterans along the painful path to recovery.

Derek competes in biathlons and triathlons with the Team Semper Fi, which raises money for wounded soldiers and their families. He aspires to become a member of the U.S. Paralympic team. He continues to assist combat veterans and their families, and is also pursuing a master's in social work.

An excerpt from Exit Wounds is available at https://tinyurl.com/jwwrxqu