Family: Vet killed in weekend standoff sought medical care

 

It was a painful Memorial Day weekend for the Sims family.

Their son, an Iraq War veteran, was killed during a police standoff. The family said he turned to the Kansas City VA Medical Center for help, only to get turned away.

Sgt. Isaac Shawn Sims, 26, was the pride and joy of his family. He was a third generation Army veteran who served with the 82 Airborne. His family says the Army was his life, but that life came at a price.

"An eardrum had been blown out and he has 80 percent disability from brain injuries," said Patricia Sims, Isaac's mother.

The physical wounds he received in Iraq only tell part of the story, according to his parents. Isaac Sims suffered from severe depression, migraines and post-traumatic stress disorder, all from seeing his friends and comrades die in combat.

"He had to pick up body parts, he had to move forward as if nothing happened," Patricia Sims said.

His mother said her son recently drove around Kansas City in this hummer believing he was back on the battlefield. His mother rode shotgun.

"And saying ‘this is how we look for IEDs mama. This is what we do. Round and round.' Then he'd show me on YouTube the videos of an IED exploding," Patricia Sims said.

Frustrated and frightened, his parents pleaded to the VA for help.

                                                                   More with video @ WND