Maj Barry F. Crawford Jr, Air National Guard

Barry Crawford was awarded the Air Force Cross for his heroic actions while embedded with Army Special Forces in Afghanistan. After becoming a fighter pilot, he experienced short term memory loss, impaired cognitive functions, couldn’t remember names or numbers and said that “five or ten seconds into a conversation I would forget what we were talking about”. He felt in a constant state of “drowning” and eventually reported that he froze while operating his jet at 10,000 feet and realized he had to seek help. Diagnosed with PTSD resulting from multiple traumatic brain injuries and emotional trauma, he was immediately grounded.

After 13 weeks of treatment with Dr. Esty, Major Crawford reported that his headaches were gone and his mental clarity had returned. He was sleeping better and his emotions had stabilized. He was convinced that all of his brain function was back to normal, and, six months later, this was confirmed by every test the Air Force could give him. After being cleared to return to flying single seat high performance jet aircraft, Major Crawford credited the treatment he received from Dr. Esty, “I got my life back, I got my body back, and, really, bottom line, I got my brain back. I’m also a better husband, better father and just a better person. It’s good for me, good for my family and good for my country to be able to go back and be able to serve.”

Bridgett Whelpley

At age 10, Bridget received a blow to the back of her head during a soccer game. In less than a week, she went from being a happy, bright and active youngster to one unable to taste, walk, read, sleep or think clearly. Her anxiety attacks and relentless headaches were nearly incapacitating, but doctors were unable to offer more than the advice to “wait it out”.

After nine sessions with Dr. Esty, Bridgett walked out of the office, whispering that her headache was gone and she felt like she was “healed”. After being unable to write even a few sentences for six months, she finished eight months of schoolwork in eight weeks and learned eight months of Irish dance steps well enough in two nights to place at the top of her division at a dance competition. There was no more anxiety, no more panic attacks and no visible effects of the concussion. Bridgett recently graduated from college.

Cliff

18-year veteran with multiple deployments. Diagnosed with TBI and PTSD, his symptoms included seizures, on-going headaches, depression, high anxiety, explosive anger, loss of vision, cognitive impairment, suicidal thoughts and he had not slept more than two hours at one time for over three years. He felt like a “ticking time bomb” and knew he was losing his family. Unable to get the help he needed from the VA, Cliff discovered Dr. Esty. After the first treatment, his seizures stopped, as did thoughts of suicide, and he slept for nine hours, uninterrupted, that night. By the end of his treatment, most symptoms were gone. “I feel like I have a chance for a fresh start and my daughter says she finally has her dad back.”

Greg

Army combat engineer, 12-year veteran with two tours in Iraq. Humvee accident and other trauma resulted in back and neck injuries as well as severe PTSD. After coming home, he lost 45 pounds, suffered memory loss, nightmares, daily panic attacks and deep depression. His anxiety was so bad he vomited every morning. Not sleeping for days at a time, he alienated family and friends and, in his own words, “escalated to the point that I just wanted everything to end.” He says that he was ashamed to tell anyone that he thought about suicide multiple times a day. After his first treatments with Dr. Esty, Greg was sleeping better than he had in years and no longer has nightmares. He had 20 sessions in total and has since regained 35 pounds, has his energy level back to normal and says “I feel good!”