Steve White's Story

In my VRAB horror story, I had been requesting a consequential award for my right knee. I had been approved for a 15% pension for my arthritis in my left knee (5/5) in 2004, after an injury in the Gulf. Well, when my left knee worsened, they decided to operate on it, taking a wedge of bone out of my leg and then stapled the bone together,to try to extend the use of my knee. This was a major operation and of course led to an extended period where I was not allowed, no capable of weight bearing on that leg. So my full body weight was being supported on my right leg for the 3 months, and by the end of it, the angle of my right knee had changed four degrees and led to two subsequent surgeries. I had an Orthopedic surgeon write a letter supporting my claim to VRAB, where he stated that it only made sense that a knee with pre-existing arthritis would be severely aggravated if having to endure excessive weight bearing over several months. I even had x-rays showing the full extent of arthritic changes had happened immediately following my first surgery. But I was still DENIED. The board stated that the letter from the surgeon was "speculative at best" and that the progression of my arthritis right knee following my surgery for arthritis left knee was merely a coincidence. It was complete BS! Everything can be boiled down to coincidence. A soldier with hearing loss could be said the fact he was ten feet away from an explosion 5 years ago was merely a coincident. A soldier developing depression 6 months after returning from Afghanistan could be coincidental. This why the benefit of doubt was placed in the legislation in the first place.