A Fayetteville man injured in Iraq is making amazing progress from his injuries, regaining movement back in his left hand and arm, his mother has reported.

Sgt. Ryan Coffield was shot by a sniper while on patrol in early October. His mother, Dee Coffield, has said that doctors emphasize that Ryan’s case is so unusual particularly because he is alive and able to walk.

Sgt. Coffield has been transferred closer to home, and is now at the Veterans Administration Spinal Cord Injury Unit in Augusta. If his progress continues, he could be dismissed as an outpatient in early December and continue his rehabilitation at home.

Coffield and his wife, Sandra, are expecting a baby boy in late December, and that’s one of the factors that has been motivating him in his recovery, his mother said. He faces a minimum of one year for rehabilitation and it could take up to two years to determine how much use he will regain in his left arm, she added.

Sgt. Coffield, a 2002 graduate of Fayette County High School, also wants to return to Ft. Benning when his platoon returns sometime in late January or early February to greet his “brothers.”

Dee Coffield said three soldiers immediately came to her son’s aid after he was shot.

“I will be eternally grateful to them for saving his life,” she said, adding that one of them is recovering at Ft. Benning after a rocket-propelled grenade shattered his kneecap and broke his leg in a separate incident.

Friends may now write to Sgt. Coffield at the following address: VAMC Augusta, SGT. Ryan Coffield, room 1GF101-41, Freedom Way (DD), Augusta, Ga. 30904.

A special Web site has also been set up for family and friends to leave messages and stay up to date on Sgt. Coffield’s progress. To access the site, visit www.caringbridge.org, click on the link to “visit a caring bridge site” and type in “ryancoffield”, then click on the button to “visit.”

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