Airman returns to duty after severe illness

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Marissa Tucker
  • 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  After a long and difficult recovery from a rare disease, an aircrew flight equipment technician rejoined his squadron here Jan. 26.

Senior Airman Colton Brown, with the 4th Operations Support Squadron, is a walking example of the fighting spirit, as he recovered from a disease that almost took his life while he was deployed to Joint Base Balad, Iraq, last September.

"My stomach had been hurting, and I couldn't keep anything down," the Hamilton, Ohio native said. "It would get better and then get worse until it just wouldn't get better."

The stomach ache turned out to be a symptom of a large amount of fluid surrounding his heart and in his lungs.

In the high tempo of deployments, many service members may ignore symptoms they are having because they want to complete their mission or do not want to be seen as weak. Senior Airman Dain Boelter, an aircrew flight equipment technician with the 4th OSS who was also deployed with Airman Brown, recognized that Airman Brown's condition was not improving and pushed him to go to the hospital.

"We would try to bring him food but he couldn't really keep anything down," Airman Boelter said. "After a while, we realized it was really serious, and he went to the hospital. Everyone was really supportive. They would always ask about how he was doing. It really showed me how the Air Force is like a big family and it made me more vigilant. You never know what a small symptom might turn out to be."

Airman Brown said he never expected that a stomach ache would result in him learning to walk again. At many times during his recovery he wanted to quit, but his daughter was the driving force that kept him going.

"I knew I was going to hold my daughter again, run around and play with her so I had to get better," he said.

While at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Airman Brown learned the true meaning of a wingman, as Senior Airman Erving Perkins, also an air crew flight equipment technician with the 4th OSS, was there by his side from the moment he woke up at the hospital until he left to go to Ohio to recover.

"My supervisor told me to be prepared to go to the hospital as Brown was being transferred from Germany," Airman Perkins said. "Our leadership was very supportive, they wanted another Airman to be with him and I'm glad they allowed me to go."

Airman Perkins and Airman Brown's mother kept a constant eye on Airman Brown, switching shifts and comforting each other when things began to look bad.

"It's really hard to see someone you are close to that close to death. He had tubes everywhere," Airman Perkins said.

Those hard times seem like part of the distant past as Airman Brown plans to return to full duty status in mid-February. He said he now has a new frame of mind and will be forever grateful to all those who helped him and to the Air Force.

"Right now, my medical bills have totaled more than $1 million," he said. "I could have never repaid that without the Air Force. There's been such an amazing show of support. I plan to begin taking more college classes, getting back into work and spending time with my daughter. I'll never forget what everybody did for me and I plan on living life to the fullest."