It was a heart-wrenching fate that left Ivonne Thompson with a physically and mentally absent husband, and a son who has never talked with his dad, nor likely will. Three months into Navy Corpsman Anthony Thompson’s second deployment to Iraq, he sustained a severe traumatic brain injury and a spinal cord injury that left him unable to communicate, wheelchair-bound, and in need of constant care. It was 2007 and Ivonne was pregnant at the time with their first and now only child, who for his first four years only saw his father in a hospital setting. Ivonne now provides for all of Anthony’s needs, literally everything in his life, and has adjusted to reading his body language as their form of communication. Despite the crushing responsibility, Ivonne has reached out to help improve other military caregivers’ through her Fellow position with the Elizabeth Dole Foundation. She continues to take care of Anthony while still kindling hope that her husband may one day fully recover, and that her son will have a conversation with his dad.
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