'There's a lot better out there'
SEATTLE -- Two years ago, Brandon Gauvreau was just learning to walk again.
He'd suffered a brain aneurysm while on duty at what was then the McChord Air Force Base.
Today, Gauvreau is making progress the Veterans Administration told him he'd never make.
"He's amazing. He is amazing," said his mother, Carol Blake.
Gauvreau may have never made the progress if he'd accepted the VA's dismal predictions.
"They're told that they can't, they can't , they can't," said Blake of injured veterans like her son. "We're going to change that 'can't-do' attitude into a 'can-do' attitude."
Gauvreau wants to bring his mom's brand of "never give up" spirit to other vets.
"There's a lot more out there," said Gauvreau of options for injured veterans. "There's a lot better out there."
Together Gauvreau and his mother established Our Forgotten Warriors, an organization that specifically aims to aid vets with traumatic brain injuries.
"A big part of our program is once they transition from our program, we don't dump them out on the street like they dumped Brandon," said Blake.
During KOMO News' first investigation into Gauvreau's and other vets' experiences at VA hospitals, we contacted Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who holds a powerful position on the Senate Veteran's Affairs Committee.
"She helped a lot with the issues with the VA," said Blake.
Now the mother and son are planning a multi-million dollar facility for injured vets. They already have preliminary plans drawn for the treatment and residential centers, and have a parcel of land picked out in Lacey.
So when they were invited to attend Murray's fundraiser, it seemed a perfect opportunity to ask again for help. But this time, the help isn't for them; it's for others.
Gauvreau put it simply: "I wanted to do something better for the other veterans."
He'd suffered a brain aneurysm while on duty at what was then the McChord Air Force Base.
Today, Gauvreau is making progress the Veterans Administration told him he'd never make.
"He's amazing. He is amazing," said his mother, Carol Blake.
Gauvreau may have never made the progress if he'd accepted the VA's dismal predictions.
"They're told that they can't, they can't , they can't," said Blake of injured veterans like her son. "We're going to change that 'can't-do' attitude into a 'can-do' attitude."
Gauvreau wants to bring his mom's brand of "never give up" spirit to other vets.
"There's a lot more out there," said Gauvreau of options for injured veterans. "There's a lot better out there."
Together Gauvreau and his mother established Our Forgotten Warriors, an organization that specifically aims to aid vets with traumatic brain injuries.
"A big part of our program is once they transition from our program, we don't dump them out on the street like they dumped Brandon," said Blake.
During KOMO News' first investigation into Gauvreau's and other vets' experiences at VA hospitals, we contacted Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who holds a powerful position on the Senate Veteran's Affairs Committee.
"She helped a lot with the issues with the VA," said Blake.
Now the mother and son are planning a multi-million dollar facility for injured vets. They already have preliminary plans drawn for the treatment and residential centers, and have a parcel of land picked out in Lacey.
So when they were invited to attend Murray's fundraiser, it seemed a perfect opportunity to ask again for help. But this time, the help isn't for them; it's for others.
Gauvreau put it simply: "I wanted to do something better for the other veterans."