SILOAM SPRINGS — A Siloam Springs soldier who had been in northeastern Afghanistan for only three weeks was seriously injured by a roadside bomb Monday or Tuesday but is stable, his father said.
Pvt. Ricky Heinrichs of the U.S. Army suffered a severe concussion because of the blast, multiple fractures to his spine, a broken left leg and shattered left ankle, said Bill Heinrichs of Siloam Springs.
One of the soldiers he was with in the vehicle was killed and another injured when the vehicle struck an improvised explosive device or IED.
“His left side of his body was weak,” his father said Thursday. “He was able to move his toes on both feet.”
After the blast, he was taken to a military base in Afghanistan and later flown to a U.S. base in Germany.
Read tomorrow's Benton County Daily Record or return to NWAonline for more on the status of the soldier.
This story was compiled by Jeff Della Rosa of the Siloam Springs Herald-Leader.