American Homecoming: Marine rebuilds life after blast in Afghanistan

NORTH COVENTRY, Pa. — An IED blast in Afghanistan left Marine Cpl. Grant Cantrell III with a traumatic brain injury and a choice: Would he have his severely injured legs amputated, or endure intense physical therapy to save them?

Blisters from burns covered his feet and lower legs. They looked “disgusting,” Cantrell remembers thinking at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

He waited out the pain while some of his wounds from the Sept. 28, 2011 explosion healed. When he was able to begin physical therapy, he tried baby steps, feeling like a young horse unsure whether his wobbly legs would hold him.

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