Coos Bay man seriously injured in training exercise while couple is serving in the Guard in Afghanistan

By Alexander Rich, Staff Writer

The story of Ognian Ivanov could be a sad one, but it's not. He could be just another victim of a seemingly endless war, but that would be ignoring all the good he accomplished.

His service in Afghanistan returned him to a world not unlike the one he knew as a child. He saw the anguish and suffering of the people there, but also reasons for hope.

Women were casting off their burkas and raising their voices.

Children were getting medical treatment and soaking up knowledge from whomever would provide some.

And he was offering Afghani soldiers training to secure their country when disaster struck.

During a training exercise, a faulty grenade exploded in his right hand.

He was taken to a hospital in San Antonio, where his hand was amputated and multiple additional injuries were treated.

Yet as his family and friends held their collective breath, Ognian helped bring another community together.

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Ognian Ivanov understands freedom. A native of Bulgaria, he grew up in a world largely controlled by a distant capital. He was serving in the armed forces and remembers the celebrations when the tentacles of Communism finally retracted their grip.

His love for freedom eventually brought him to America, where he met, and married, Cheryl. In 2000, they returned to Coos Bay after spending several years in Las Vegas. He got a job as a technician at The Mill Casino-Hotel, while she worked as a phlebotomist at Bay Area Hospital. Although a foreign national, Ognian joined Cheryl in enlisting with the Oregon National Guard.

“Ogi feels that if the United States opens its arms and accepts someone as a citizen with all of the rights, freedoms and benefits of a natural born American, then you lay your life down to help protect those said rights, freedoms and benefits,” Cheryl wrote in an e-mail.

In June 2006, Ognian and Cheryl left for Afghanistan. They were stationed in a small forward operating base, Camp Lightning, near the city of Gardez in the southern part of the country.

While Ognian trained Afghani recruits, Cheryl roamed the countryside, providing medical assistance and learning more about the culture. One of only two women in her unit, Cheryl was valuable in providing care as well as changing the perceptions of those she treated.

“As a woman working so closely with the Afghan men, I had to earn the respect and trust that would have come so easily to my male counterparts,” she said.

She garnered recognition by joining numerous forays into the field.

“(Improvised explosive devices), suicide bombings, rocket attacks, I went through it all,” she said. “One time, I spent 18 days in the field but it was a good thing because it really changed their attitudes.”

Cheryl noticed she was not the only woman who was able to gain respect.

“In the time we were there, fewer and fewer women were wearing burkas and a lot of schools are looking for uniforms so girls can play soccer,” she said. “The women are sick and tired of their children getting injured and killed.”

Cheryl also was pleasantly surprised to find the enthusiasm Afghani children have for education.

“If you want to make a child happy, you give him a pen,” she said. “School in many villages consists of a mat, a pad of paper and a teacher with a chalkboard sitting out under the harsh summer sun. The children sit on the ground and all eyes are on their teacher. They love to show you how they are learning English and tried to practice on us.”

Sometimes, Cheryl thought about her own children, staying with her parents in Washington state. It was difficult for her to be away from them for so long, but she looked forward to the spring when she and Ognian were scheduled to return. She would arrive back in the United States sooner than she thought.

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As a veteran of the Bulgarian army, Ognian had received training in the use of Soviet-era weapons. Some segments of the Afghan army rely on such out-dated equipment, so on Feb. 6, Ognian found himself training some recruits in the proper handling of Soviet grenades.

He was holding one in his right hand when it detonated.

“Ogi always made sure to follow orders and we were told to always wear our protective gear,” Cheryl said. “So when the grenade went off in his hand, he had his protective gear on and that's why he's still here.”

Cheryl was in the field when she heard. She joined Ognian as he was transported to Germany and then onto San Antonio, where he was checked into the Brooke Army Medical Center. He was taken to the intensive care unit, where he remained for several weeks.

“The doctors can't believe he survived it,” Cheryl said.

Ognian's armor protected his upper body and head from shrapnel, but his extremities bore the brunt of the blast.

Surgeons amputated his right hand to the middle of his forearm. His right eye, damaged by the explosion, may never have sight again. His right femur broke and his lungs have several contusions.

Cheryl watched as her husband was induced into a coma. She worried for his life, but she was not the only one thinking about Ognian.

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Since the accident, Cheryl has been providing updates to staff at both The Mill Casino and Bay Area Hospital.

“It took us really hard when we learned he got hurt,” said Miling Laygui, a slot department administrator at The Mill. “You don't expect someone you know to get hurt.”

By the time he left for Afghanistan, Ognian had risen to the rank of bench technician at the casino. He was training and working with the nine other technicians in his department. But many more were interested in his well being.

“We had an article in our last newsletter about the two employees we have in Afghanistan,” said Bernie Crowder, an assistant manager at The Mill. “After we learned about Ogi, everyone was bugging me about updates, so I just started sending the letters I received to everyone on the casino e-mail list.”

At Bay Area Hospital, Vickie Montgomery serves a similar role, disseminating e-mail updates to the 50-person lab. Montgomery remembered speaking to Cheryl the first time after the accident happened.

“She called me from Afghanistan as soon as he had been injured,” she said. “We cried on the phone together. She was very afraid. I don't think she could get to his side fast enough.”

Cheryl said once their school year ends, their children; Shane, 13; Kaitlyn, 12; Kalina, 8; and Dwight, 7; will come down with her parents.

At this early stage of Ognian's treatment, it is difficult to determine how long it will take him to recover from his injuries, though Cheryl said doctors have said to expect one or two years of therapy. The family will relocate to San Antonio for that time, with Cheryl working at the hospital and continuing her studies to become a nurse.

She said that neither she nor Ognian has any regrets about going to Afghanistan.

“That's what you do, you offer yourself to your country,” she said.