Editors note:
The Fayetteville Observer has monitored the progress of Chris Harriss for more than a year. A reporter and a photographer were present when Harriss began physical therapy, and, about a month later, when he got his first intravenous antibiotic treatment. Harriss' wife, Karin, has provided periodic updates throughout the year.
By Greg Barnes
Staff writer
Ayear ago, Chris Harriss' hands shook so badly that he couldn't consistently place a small ball into a big basket.
He could barely climb stairs and couldn't drive a car. His speech became so slow and slurred that it was almost incomprehensible.
A year later, after controversial treatment for Lyme disease, Harriss seems to have made an almost complete recovery.
At a physical therapy session last month, Harriss easily skipped across a rubber mat, taking the black squares one by two almost without falter.
His therapist, Becky Bliss, says Harriss has regained 95 percent of his physical abilities, the remaining impairment being mostly a little loss of balance.
Harriss, a chief warrant officer 3 at Fort Bragg, has improved so much that he has gone back to work. His boss at U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Col. Patrick V. Pallatto, said in a letter dated Jan. 17 that Harriss' work performance "has been nothing less of superior." Pallatto called Harriss "a talented and tested senior Mobility Warrant Officer" and a "great asset to this command."
Read the original:
Soldier's spirit is fighting fit as he recovers from mysterious illness