Eggelston was serving with a reservist unit while on his second tour of duty in Iraq in 2005 when he was severely injured. Two improvised explosive devices, commonly known as IEDs, were detonated next to his vehicle. He was thrown into another vehicle and suffered extensive injuries to his back, leg and head.
Once he got to Walter Reed, it took two months before surgical appointments were made to mend the shattered discs in his back and install titanium rods and plates in his body, and another eight months before he was treated for traumatic brain injury.
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