Legal counsel, medical help from the heart

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AFGHANISTAN -- Toor Pekai and her family arrived at Bagram Air Field Oct. 1, 2012, for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), in hopes that the Coalition medical team could assess her brain damage and give her some answers on what is to come. She was accompanied by Lt. Col. David Eby, top legal advisor for the Afghan Air Force and Staff Judge Advocate for the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing.

Her ordeal began four months ago when she suffered a massive stroke, which left her completely debilitated - unable to speak and paralyzed on the right side from the neck down. Her family took her to a hospital in Pakistan for surgery to relieve pressure on her brain. Despite this surgery, Pekai continued to suffer paralysis on her right side, and still could not speak.

Pekai is the wife of Col. Amir Jan, the Afghan Air Force staff judge advocate, who asked his Coalition counterpart for aid. This is when Lt. Col. David Eby got involved.

"I am here to mentor and help the Afghan air force; I just want to do what I can to help," says Eby. "This has been very difficult for Amir Jan."

Eby coordinated with the Coalition staff to have Pekai seen at the Role 3 Hospital at the Kabul, Afghanistan, International Airport.

Eby works alongside Amir and the Afghan AF legal department daily to help them improve their counsel to commanders and enforcement of the rule of law in the Afghan Air Force. But now Eby is more than just a mentor. He holds a special place in the hearts of Amir Jan and Toor Pekai.

At the ISAF hospital, doctors recommended an MRI to assess the damage caused by the stroke. An MRI was not only unavailable in that particular hospital; doctors did not think they could get an accurate image due to residual blood in her head. She had to wait at least two months.

Eby then arranged for Toor Pekai to be seen at the hospital in Bagram.

Days in advance, Eby had to coordinate all of the paperwork done to allow Amir Jan, his family and an interrupter on base. Eby himself had to travel from the Kabul, Afghanistan, International Airport to Bagram to meet the family. He picked them up personally to ensure they made it to where they needed to be.

"I really appreciate all the hard work Lt. Col Eby has done for me and my family, "this is not his main job, and he went above and beyond for us." said Amir Jan.

The doctors were able to use the MRI to provide more data to the family on the dynamics of her current condition, and recommend when it would be prudent to start preventative treatment for further strokes.

While Pekai faces permanent disabilities, the help rendered through the difficult and life-changing family event bonded Lt. Col. Eby and Amir Jan in a friendship much deeper than legal counsel. It advanced the greater relationship and good will between multiple Coalition service members and multiple Afghans.

"I will not forget what he did and I do not know how to show my appreciation," said Amir Jan.