Robert Cooper / The News Herald

John Adkins points out some of the worst problems with the Cabaniss family’s house. Adkins is the Florida Assistant State Captain of the Patriot Guard Riders. He wants to either repair this house or figure out a way to get a new one placed on the property.

Last July, an improvised explosive device knocked Army Cpl. Jeremy Cabaniss unconscious for 15 to 20 minutes in Baghdad. In February, a second blast knocked him out for nearly an hour. Cabaniss still is undergoing physical and other therapy three times a week at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, just south of where he is stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky. He has tramatic brain injury, which affects his short-term memory and balance and causes seizures. Cabaniss cannot get around without a walker or take a shower alone. Doctors have told him if his condition does not improve within the next year, he likely will be permanently disabled. “His short-term memory is so bad, he has to keep a notebook with him and write everything down,” said Jeremy’s wife, Deanna. “I go everywhere with him and do everything for him.” Because Jeremy will be unable to complete his term of service with the Army, he is in the process of applying for medical retirement. If all goes well, he should be ready to return to Florida in the next month or two.

“He will go to the VA hospital in Tampa,” Deanna Cababiss said, “but we don’t want to move. Hopefully, he won’t have to go there for very long.”

Rented hazard

When Cabaniss was injured in February, his wife and their two children, ages 9 and 10 months, left their Panama City Beach home and secured base housing to be near him and take him to his medical appointments at Vanderbilt Hospital, which is an hour from the base. Jeremy was relocated to Kentucky to get ready for deployment, and his family planned to stay in Bay County until he returned.

To keep up with the mortgage payments at home after they moved to Kentucky, Deanna rented the house, which was built in the 1940s or 1950s. But last month, the tenant moved out because the house had become a health hazard.

“There was some storm damage after Jeremy got deployed, but we weren’t able to repair it,” Deanna Cabaniss said. “We didn’t notice the shingles were gone on the roof over the master bedroom. When it started leaking, we couldn’t afford to have it repaired.”

The house has deteriorated seriously since then.

“There are several additions on the house, none of which meet code,” said John Adkins, who met the couple through his involvement with the Patriot Guard Riders, a motorcycle group that helps veterans and attends military funerals to protect families from war protesters. “There’s an open hole in the master bedroom ceiling. The insulation is hanging. The roof has sagged, making the shingles sag and making the roof a foot lower than it should be. There’s black mold there, too.”

Adkins, who owns an air-conditioning business in Walton County, went over the house, noting all the repairs it needs and adding up the cost.

“That house in uninhabitable,” he said. “Jeremy will be handicapped when he comes home, and he can’t be in the house. Also, he will need wider access to the bathroom with his walker; the fixtures need to be moved and the tub replaced with a handicapped tub. That would cost between $10,000 and $15,000.”

Not worth fixing

To replace the roof, repair the master bedroom ceiling, have professionals get rid of the mold, remodel the bath and complete all the other improvements to make the house habitable and handicap-accessible, Adkins estimated it would cost between $60,000 and $100,000. He doesn’t think it’s worth it.

“It needs to be torn down and rebuilt from the floor up,” Adkins said. “We have $10,000 that’s being offered by Soldiers’ Angels. They help soldiers coming in from active duty. I need to collect at least $50,000 more.”
Adkins is so determined to help the Cabanisses that he has videotaped the house damage, plans to get videos of the couple and has helped them complete an application to present to the television show “Extreme Makeover” with the hope of them being selected to have a new house built.

Operation Homefront has been helping the couple pay their mortgage payments in the meantime. Deanna Cabaniss said her husband’s pay rate will change when he retires and gets a disability rating.

“When Jeremy gets out of the hospital, we will be without income for two or three months until the retirement pay becomes effective,” she said.

On top of all these worries, she fell and broke her ankle last week.

“I have to be on crutches and in a cast for six weeks,” she said.

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