TV show helps local vet with home, vehicle repairs

Operation Build's "I'm Coming Home" program will broadcast a three-part series airing on A&E and FYI next month on Scott Adams, a U.S. Army veteran who was wounded in Iraq and who lives in St. Bonifacius.

"I'm Coming Home" is a half-hour television series dedicated to raising awareness about military heroes. The show shares stories about war, and how soldiers overcome adversity and battle their way back home.

Operation Build travels all over the country discovering home improvement concepts in renovations, remodels, and do-it-yourself projects.

Each episode has a project objective, all under a renovation deadline and a homeowner's need to complete a project on time, before a big event.

The crew filmed in Minnesota May 2 through 9.

Adams was injured when his Humvee was hit by two anti-tank mines in Iraq on Jan. 26, 2007. His body was burned by white phosphorus and he was covered in diesel fuel that ignited when rescuers opened the door to pull him from the vehicle.

Adams suffered burns over 92 percent of his body. He fractured a vertebrae, shattered both shoulders, and suffered eight compound fractures in his spine. He was left with bulging discs and a spinal cord injury. He also had nerve damage to both legs, and migraine headaches.

Part of the help offered by the show's sponsors was a renovation of the master bath by Re-Bath, repairs of three of his vehicles by Meineke and a new Mahindra subcompact tractor that will allow him to do yard work again.

In addition, a local charity, Pain Free Patriots, is helping him deal with chronic pain from his injuries.

Started by Doug Huseby, founder of Becker Furniture World, Pain Free Patriots has provided grants to nearly 500 Minnesota members of the military and veterans.

Almost all have tried conventional help through the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system with little or no success.

Pain Free Patriots rolls into church parking lots and shopping malls with mobile trailers equipped with state-of-the art technology, offering free treatments such as muscle and nerve therapy and spinal balancing.

Potential clients must show evidence of military service, either through their discharge papers or a military identification, and fill out a one-page questionnaire about their ailments. Few are turned away.

The vets are provided grants that average about $5,000 for their treatments, which usually run several times a week for about three months.

Huseby says he is able to offer results when the VA has failed because he cuts through bureaucracy and embraces different approaches to treatment.

"Why is the post office not up to UPS or FedEx?" Huseby said last year in a Star Tribune news story about the program.

"Anything run by the government is going to be slower with more red tape. I'm a business guy. I go in and I've figured out how to fix people."