“Six weeks ago,” said Jay Kules, Ryan’s father, at his Terravita home in North Scottsdale after returning from visiting his son at Walter Reed, “Ryan was just at the first stage of walking; that is, standing up and taking a step.”

After those weeks of hard work and perseverance, Ryan has reached the point where he is doing more advanced activities like walking briefly without a physical therapy harness and re‑learning to drive. “Don’t worry, the speed limit is 15 (mph),” Nancy Kules reported March 25 in her online journal at Caringbridge.com. She has been keeping the journal since December 2 after she arrived in Landstuhl, Germany, where Ryan was being stabilized for transfer to Walter Reed.

“It’s so nice to see him behind the wheel again,” Nancy said.

But Ryan is not content to creep along behind the wheel at 15 mph–he’s also been flying down the ski slopes of New Hampshire and Colorado.

Over the weekend of March 17‑19, patients from Walter Reed took a hospital‑organized ski trip to Waterville, New Hampshire, where Ryan hit the slopes on a “bi‑unique,” which is specially designed adaptive ski apparatus for amputees. At this point in Ryan’s recovery, according to Nancy, “because Ryan  cannot hold onto the controls of the right side of the bi‑unique ski ... there is a person tethering him from the rear as he goes down the mountain. Eventually, he could learn to use the equipment independently.”

Nevertheless, said Nancy, “The ski trip was amazing. Ryan blows me away with the things he

is able to do. It is somewhat mind‑boggling to consider that it was just ... four months ago when he was injured.”

At the end of March, Ryan and Nancy went on another winter adventure, this time to Aspen, Colorado, for snowboarding, a sport Ryan said he’d been doing for seven years and is “excited about getting back to.”

But it’s not just for daredevil sports that Ryan leaves his regular 90‑minute daily sessions of physical and occupational therapy at Walter Reed. On March 10, it was not so far in terms of distance – just to the Pentagon right there in Washington, D.C.–but in terms of emotional impact, it was just as thrilling.

Ryan and Nancy were told they would be greeted at the Pentagon by some employees lining the halls to pay their respects, but when they arrived they were overwhelmed by what they found. “About 3,000 people, four to five people deep along the sides of a hallway that was at least a quarter‑mile long,” Nancy explained in her online journal for that day, “all of whom were clapping, cheering and walking out to shake Ryan’s hand, or pat him on the back, welcome him home and thank him for his service. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

As rewarding as it is for Ryan to get out of the hospital to be recognized for his service, sometimes the honor comes to him right there at Walter Reed–and as is typical for Ryan, it is his loyalty to those he fought alongside in Iraq that is really important to him.

Back in early February, Ryan’s commanding officer in Iraq, Lt. Col. Eric J. Wesley, came to visit him at Walter Reed to present him with the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was at the medical center at that time visiting soldiers and Ryan was asked if he would like to have the medals awarded to him by the Secretary. Ryan said no, he would rather receive the honors from his commander, Lt. Col. Wesley. “That’s just like Ryan,” Jay Kules said. “He really looks up to Col. Wesley as a leader.”

And the feeling is mutual.

Wesley has commented that “Ryan is one of my superstars. From the day I met him he has always demonstrated a humble, professional, deliberate approach amidst the honorable leadership he provided his soldiers unlike any other. He continues to demonstrate these pronounced characteristics even after having fallen on a challenging battlefield. He has inspired his soldiers as well as health‑care providers in Baghdad, Germany, and now at Walter Reed.”

Unfortunately, though, at the present time there is a detour for Ryan on his road to recovery, one that actually began back in mid‑February when, as a result of the excessive time he was on a ventilator in the first month after the attack, scar tissue built up in his throat until it was almost 70 percent blocked. Doctors at Walter Reed performed surgery at that time to cut away the scar tissue with lasers, which they did successfully, reducing the blockage to about 10 percent.

Although this condition is not all that common among patients who have been on a ventilator for an extended time, during the period since that surgery in February the scar tissue in Ryan’s throat has continued to grow back and the degree of blockage is now at about 40 percent. His doctors have informed him that he needs surgery again to address the problem, but this time Ryan was given two options.

Ryan’s doctors at Walter Reed have advised him that the same procedure could be performed again or he could opt for a much more invasive procedure for which the intensive‑care recovery time is a lot longer, requiring another ventilator, feeding tube, catheter, IVs, etc., but which should provide more long‑lasting results. At the moment, according to Nancy, Ryan thinks the more aggressive treatment is the wiser choice, but the surgery probably won’t need to be performed for at least a few more weeks.

Ryan and Nancy are glad to get that brief reprieve because they are celebrating several happier occasions in April–Ryan’s 25th birthday, their second wedding anniversary, and Ryan’s first trip back home to Scottsdale since sustaining his injuries in Iraq.

On April 8, it was a joyous occasion when the couple returned to Arizona to see their families and attend a sold‑out benefit event at Terravita, developed and coordinated by residents Andrea Korff, who has worked as a nurse for the Navy and Air Force since the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, and her husband Dr. Mark Korff. The fundraiser was part of an ever‑widening local goodwill effort called “Serving Ryan,” in conjunction with the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, to raise funds for modifying Ryan’s future home when he and Nancy are ready to occupy it.

“Ryan, you served our country voluntarily,” Andrea Korff said from the podium, “and now we serve you.”

“Nancy and I know that transitioning into our future will be financially challenging,” Ryan wrote in the “Serving Ryan” event’s program, “and we know that we will come away from this event with some of that burden alleviated.”

The evening, which raised over $55,000 and included a color guard ceremony, raffles, silent and live auctions, lavish buffet tables and short speeches by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Mayor of Scottsdale Mary Manross and others, was a huge success, according to Andrea Korff, not only financially but emotionally.

“Phenomenal,” she said following the event. “Way beyond our expectations. The management of Terravita deserves kudos on this one. They went all out. It was more than an event – it was a loving, heartwarming experience.”

Introduced as the world’s toughest sheriff, Arpaio admitted to having a “soft spot for soldiers” and then said, “This is a tough war, but people are good all over the world.” He then extended an invitation: “Ryan, anytime you’re here and you need anything, you come to me.”

Mayor Manross got the crowd revved up when she addressed Ryan. “Everyone is here to make sure the Kules family knows we are proud of your service,” she said, at which point the over 250 people crowding the Terravita clubhouse burst into sustained applause.

But it was Ryan who stole the show when, looking around the room, he finished his short talk by saying, “This is a lot more fun than being blown up.”

A couple days after the event, Ryan and Nancy returned to Walter Reed. This fall, Lt. Kules will officially be promoted to the rank of captain, based on his time served and his performance. He and Nancy hope to be ready to leave Washington this summer and “move to San Antonio in order to get to an area that is more affordable than D.C. and a climate that is a little more like home,” Ryan said. “Fort Sam Houston is there, as well as Brooke Army Medical Center. Those installations will be a great benefit as I continue to adjust to this situation.”

At Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, Ryan will have the opportunity to avail himself of some of the newest technology in prosthetics while living at the Fisher House with Nancy. There is at least one Fisher House on the grounds of every major military medical center in the country, according to Fisherhouse.org, providing “comfort homes” that enable family members to be close to a loved one at the most stressful times.”

All the other soldiers from Ryan’s platoon, except the two that died in the attack that wounded Ryan, have now returned safely to the United States. But the number of wounded American soldiers is continuing to rise. As of April 3, according to the U.S. Army Medical Command Public Affairs Office, 373 American soldiers are now amputees as a result of U.S. involvement in Iraq, 68 of those multiple amputees like Ryan. The number of American soldiers wounded in the Iraq conflict on or after March 19, 2003, reached 17,549 as of April 11, according to Department of Defense figures. The death toll is now 2,360.

“My son can’t be hurt much more now,” Jay Kules said, “but other soldiers can and will be. It’s an impossible situation. I’d hate to see the sacrifices (of the soldiers) go for nought. And I would hate to have even one more parent get that phone call.”

Looking ahead, he continued: “Ryan’s job now is to get better. He has his whole life ahead of him to deal with this on a daily basis. People tend to forget that–it’s daily. And it’s going to be hard. But because Ryan is an officer, he pushes himself harder to set an example for others. Still, it’ll be at least a year of rehabilitation to some sort of normalcy.”

“We want to start doing some of the things that we had planned on doing,” Nancy Kules told The Desert Advocate. “We plan to buy (another house) and settle down. D.C. is a fun place to visit, but we are ready to have a place we can call home, live together, with our dog, and without an audience.”

Although certainly not alone, their dog, Peanut, will also be very happy when Ryan finally comes home to stay.

Reach the reporter at cmoore@thedesertadvocate.com.