Wounded Warrior Captain Jared Gerber, LCSW is blinded in left eye and creates music program from bed | Legal Press Releases

March 31, 2010 (MMD Newswire) -- On December 9th 2009, CPT Jared Gerber LCSW was blinded in his left eye in an accident. His eye was cut in half, he was rushed to the emergency room at Scripps Memorial Hospital where he was put under anesthesia and underwent emergency surgery to put his eye back together. He woke up partially blind, disoriented, with loss of most of his functional capacity. His eye was filled with blood and barely intact.

After a week in the hospital he returned home. He was put on bed rest for six weeks. During this period he experienced the depths of this loss and felt paralyzed and incapacitated. He was put on a medication regimen including seven types of eye drops and pain medications which added additional disorientation and side effects. He was unable to sleep well and could not think straight. Being a driven person and accomplished professional, he decided to compose an album as a therapeutic method for dealing with this situation. His unique musical style was heard by musical talents in Hollywood and he was able to gain support to begin production of his album. Although all of his savings were depleted and he incurred tens of thousands of dollars in Doctor Bills, he pressed forward. Dr. Anne Hanneken from Duke University recommended him to go to the Shiley Eye Clinic and undergo another surgery as an alternative to having his eye extracted. On January 27th 2010, CPT Gerber underwent a second surgery called a vitriol procedure where Dr. Freeman from UCSD Shiley Eye Clinic performed a second procedure. It was found that he lost his iris and lense and his retina was detached and curled into a little ball in the middle of the eye. Dr. Freeman reattached the retina and put silicone oil in his eye so that it could heal. He did not regain sight and had a second round of bed rest in immense pain that he describes as feeling like a javelin was thrust into his eye. His light perception, balance, thought, coordination, mood, and ability were all effected.

While on bed rest under horrific circumstances he asked God to take him now. God did not take him so he continued with his album "The Expression". His first track "Monocular Vision" expressed his ideas of how normal people often times with full functional capacity should appreciate every gift they have. This shocked his friends and family, and was well received. His second track "Twice the Light" allowed him to express some of his pain and show how the depth of the soul and connection to humanity is more important than any worldly thing. He is finished with the writing of the entire album but do to financial constraints has been unable to move forward. Since he has years of experience finding creative means to help other people, he came up with what is being called a brilliant idea by Dr. Applet. He is working to create a program through his Graduate Program at the University of Southern California, whereby top musically gifted blind and disabled youth will be given the opportunity to express themselves through music. In conjunction with educational, entertainment, and social service entities, he plans to take ten youth through an eight week course on music development using Hollywood Producers. The kids will be able to learn about music, be paired with professional to make a song, produce and album, and have a concert. He has opened an account under Imagine Life Services in which he will be able to accept donations for this program.

Your generosity in this matter will propel a movement which will allow youth and opportunity to fulfill their lifetime dreams, and create a scholarship program to send these youth to school for music.

The account # is as follows:
5867015876
Or mail to Imagine Life Services:
3490 Del Rey St. #22
San Diego, CA
92109

Your donations will make the difference in the lives of those who need it most.

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