By Elaine Sanchez
Brooke Army Medical Center
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas, Jan. 20,
2015 – An Army officer who was severely wounded in a shooting at Fort Hood,
Texas, last year is using his near-death experience to give others a new lease
on life.
“I believe I was given a second chance,” said 1st Lt. John
Arroyo, who is recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center here. “I hope my story
inspires others to realize that it’s never too late to make a change or to make
a difference.”
Arroyo had three deployments under his belt when he arrived
at Fort Hood in November 2013. The California native had enlisted in 1998 as a
truck driver, but jumped at the opportunity to earn a Green Beret just a few
years later. After a dozen years in Special Forces, Arroyo was commissioned and
selected for the Medical Service Corps.
Shots Fired at Fort Hood
He was assigned to the 1st Medical Brigade at Fort Hood as a
platoon leader. On April 2, 2014, Arroyo was pulling into ther brigade
headquarters parking lot when he heard shots fired. He had just stepped out of
his car as another car parked close by. He had no idea the driver was Army Spc.
Ivan Lopez, who was just minutes into a shooting spree across post.
Lopez already had shot and killed two soldiers and wounded
more than a dozen others in another building by the time he pulled into the
brigade parking lot.
The next shot Arroyo heard was the one that ripped through
his throat. Gasping for breath, Arroyo stumbled back to his car and fell to the
ground. He lay there, bleeding profusely, and struggling to breathe.
“I thought, ‘Is this it? Am I going to die?’ he recalled.
“But then I heard a voice telling me to get up -- to hurry and get up.”
Close Encounter With Shooter
With his wife and three children in mind, Arroyo drew on his
last reserves of strength to stand up and find help. He held his throat to
stanch the bleeding and stumbled toward a man. He suddenly realized he was
about to seek aid from the shooter. “I was within 10 feet of him, but he never
saw me,” he said. “He walked right past me into the building and started
shooting again.”
A few soldiers spotted Arroyo from across the parking lot.
They called out: “Soldier, are you OK?” He was somehow able to answer: “I’ve
been shot.” With no time to spare, they raced Arroyo to Carl R. Darnall Army
Medical Center. Meanwhile, the shooter was confronted seconds later by a
military police officer. She fired a shot at him, and he responded by
committing suicide. Four soldiers, including Lopez, were killed and 16 others
were wounded that day.
Critically injured, Arroyo was rushed to surgery and
transferred to Scott and White Memorial Hospital for further care. He was told
his voice box and right arm were damaged beyond repair. Yet, two months later,
he was talking again and, after months of intense rehabilitation at the Center
for the Intrepid here, has regained the use of his right hand.
His swift recovery wasn’t surprising, he said.
“I was given a second chance by God,” he added. “I should
have died in the parking lot that day. I believe I am here for a purpose and
will continue to heal.”
Sharing His Story to Help Others
Hoping to inspire others, Arroyo said, he began sharing his
story with everyone from inmates to students to fellow patients and service
members. “I want everyone to realize that if they’re breathing, they have the
opportunity for a second chance,” he explained.
Arroyo returned to Fort Hood last month to speak at the
hospital’s Holiday Ball and to thank the staff for saving his life. One of the
nurses was in tears after Arroyo told her another soldier who had been shot in
the spinal cord was walking again, thanks in part to her care.
“I went back to the spot where I was shot,” he said. “And I
wasn’t upset at what had happened. I felt grateful that I was given a second
chance to make a difference.
“I don’t focus on tomorrow -- I finish today,” he added. “And
I plan to make each day count for something.”
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