We here at Stack-Up.Org love when we get pictures back from the troops enjoying their supply crates. It is one of the reasons we do what we do, to much the suck…less so. Recently we sent out a supply crate, not to the front lines but closer to home here in San Diego to a young soldier facing a different kind of battle with cancer.
You may have seen the video REVERSE UNBOXING, Ep 3: Brendan from San Diego VA Hospital, well the supply crate codenamed “Silver Bullet” has reached its destination. Brendan Corbley the supply crate recipient and Steven Padilla from the IAVA, who originally reached out on Brendan’s behalf, have returned the favor and sent us a fantastic Supply Crate Unboxing video, along with some words from Steven…
May 28th, 2016
I have my last clinical rotation at The VA medical center in LA Jolla, CA. Today I have been assigned a veteran with a trachea tube on a Ventilator and my goal for that day is to get him off the Ventilator. That day my patient was Brendan Corbley a 30yr old male with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, he was diagnosed in 2014 and went into remission after treatment at the VA in NY but now it is back.
While treating Brendan I would talk to him through a pen and a pad, we would talk about his service, what motivated him to join and what he likes to do.
Brendan has long line of family in the military, his father was in the navy, his brother served in the Army with a deployment to Iraq , so Brendan decided to join the US Army in 2002 as a 13 Bravo (Cannon Crewmember) but when he was deployed to Balad, Iraq in 2005 his duty was to perform Convoy Security. Brendan would have many near misses with IED’s and other enemy engagements. Due to these events, Brendan would later be diagnosed with PTSD by the VA. Currently, 30% of our post 9/11 veterans struggle with PTSD including myself. This would me lead me to ask Brendan what he does for fun and like most veterans he enjoys playing games like Call of Duty, Battlefield, and many other games.
Knowing that Brendan has a long road of treatments ahead of him I asked him how he would feel if I could get him a handheld gaming system to distract him from his upcoming Chemo treatments and the down time he would face because his family is in NY. The guys at Stack-up were able to put together a supply crate to take care of that alone down time.
After Brendan opened the supply crate we went to lunch at In and Out, where we talked for a couple hours. Brendan has a positive outlook at what’s ahead of him, he has beat cancer once and he can beat it again. I met Brendan as a Veterans Advocate looking to ease a difficult situation but now I consider him a friend and I know my friend can beat this.
–Steven Padilla
Thanks so much Brendan and Steven for the video and for sharing your story. We have no doubt that with the support of great people like Steven, Brendan will triumph in his current battle and beyond. Enjoy the console and the games! We hope it brings you a bit of comfort, relaxation, and fun in the down time from your fight.
If you’d like to make a donation that gets highlighted in one of our videos, Stack-Up takes lightly used PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One games and gear as well as cash donations. Please help us help these vets out here:
