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Bath Native Aaron Hale Recovering From Bomb Blast

U.S. Army sergeant was severely injured in Dec. 8 explosion in Afghanistan.

Note: This article was updated on Jan. 15.

Bath Township native Aaron Hale still has the quick sense of humor and beautiful smile he always has been known for.

Those attributes, says his sister Paige Hale, remain evident even as the U.S. Army staff sergeant deals with severe injuries he sustained in a Dec. 8 bomb explosion in Afghanistan.

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Paige Hale has been serving as the family’s public spokeswoman on the For Aaron Hale Facebook page since the blast peppered her brother’s body with shrapnel, broke every bone in his face, fractured his skull, tore his eardrums and caused permanent blindness.

“Aaron is super tough – the strongest person I know. He can get through anything and just laugh it off and he’s always been like that,” Paige Hale said. “We’re not shrugging this off. He knows it’s severe and it’s the biggest struggle of his life. He’s always been my hero – he didn’t need to go into the military to prove that.”

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Aaron Hale’s recovery process will take one to two years, possibly longer, said Paige Hale, 31, a pediatric intensive care nurse. Her brother, older by three years, has already undergone numerous surgeries, with many more to come in the future.

“He’s healing, but all his facial bones are still broken, his jaw’s not perfectly aligned and his skull is fractured. But he still has the beautiful smile that everyone talks about,” she said. “He has cuts everywhere from the shrapnel, but they’re healing. You know he’s injured when you see him, but he’s getting around and doing all his physical therapies, learning to live life blind.”

Her brother and his family – wife Kelly and children Sheldon, Bailey, Makenzie and Cameron – just moved to Florida, as the military transferred his care from Walter Reed Medical Center in Maryland to the Tampa Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center.

Paige Hale said her brother's room at Walter Reed has seen constant activity, “with 15 to 20 people stopping in all day long to pay their respects to him – not including the 20 different specialty doctors caring for him.”

One noteworthy visit was written about in a blog on a U.S. Department of Defense website. John Campbell, deputy assistant secretary of defense for wounded warrior care and transition policy, visited with wounded troops and their families at Walter Reed just before Christmas.

“During his visit, Mr. Campbell sat with Army Sergeant Aaron Hale and his wife. Sgt. Hale … was about to go into surgery for an eye injury he received in Afghanistan. Despite his serious injury, he was upbeat and looking forward to the upcoming holiday,” the blog stated.

After graduating in 1996 from , Aaron Hale spent some time at Bowling Green State University before joining the U.S. Navy. He served in that military branch for eight years before switching to the U.S. Army, where he trained for a career as an explosive ordnance disposal technician.

He was back in the United States in November and returned to Afghanistan at the end of the month. The explosion that changed the course of his life occurred a week later – and he remembers everything about it, his sister said.

She said the entire Hale family has been bolstered by the outpouring of support – from the military, individual veterans and veterans’ groups, as well as Bath Township area residents, both known and strangers – since that fateful day.

“Growing up on Glengary Road in Bath has really paid off for our family with all the community support," she said.

Aaron Hale has received boxes of “very heartfelt and meaningful” cards, letters and gifts from area well-wishers. Many cards and letters were sent by Revere High School students, past and present, and students at and elementary schools. 

His longtime friend, Ethan McPeake of Bath, has established the Sgt. Aaron C. Hale Benevolent Fund through First Merit Bank. Contributions can be made at any of the bank’s branches or mailed to the fund at 990 Timberline Drive, Akron, OH 44333

Paige Hale and her mother are co-writing a story about Aaron’s adventurous life” for two upcoming benefits sponsored by . A reverse raffle and dinner will be held Feb. 25 at Rosemont Country Club and a racquetball tournament is planned for March 16-18.

Details about both events will be posted on the For Aaron Hale Facebook page, on which Paige Hale said she will continue posting notes about her brother’s recovery.

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