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American Morning
Rescued Soldier
Aired April 08, 2003 - 08:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Jessica Lynch is 19 years old. She was rescued on the 1st of April in that daring overnight raid in a hospital in Nasiriyah. Still recovering in a hospital in Germany right now, and her family has been there for several days. And today, they talked and told reporters what they're learning from Jessica. Matthew Chance, Landstuhl Medical Center, joins us now live from what was said earlier today.
Matthew, hello there.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you as well, Bill.
The medical update from the doctors who have been supervising the care of Private Jessica Lynch, saying that she is in excellent spirits, that she's well on her way to making a recovery. She's been sitting up in bed, something she couldn't do several days ago. She's even been sitting in a chair out of the bed and eating solid food for the first time on a regular basis for sometime.
Having said that, still recovering from not just the multiple wounds she incurred when she was in captivity by Iraqi forces, but also recovering from the intensive surgery on her back that had to be undertaken to correct some of those wounds or to help heal some of those wounds. So she's still not go to be flown back to the U.S. sometime yet. There is still saying there is no date set for her evacuation back to the U.S.
What we do know, though, this has been a very emotional period obviously for Jessica. It's been a very uplifting period as well. We know she had a big smile on her face. We're told that when her parents walked into the hotel room, the parents came, coming along with her brother and sister and a cousin from West Virginia, making a flight over here to sit by the bed, to comfort her, to talk to her.
Today we found out what was going through their minds, what emotions were running through them when they saw Jessica for the first since the end of the ordeal. Listen to what Gregory Jr., her brother, had to say about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREGORY LYNCH JR., JESSICA'S BROTHER: I shed a few tears before. But that really hit me hard when I walked in that room. It hit the whole family. It was just good to see her face, and the condition that she was in good shape, and the doctors there are wonderful, and the hospital and the community here is just great support for everybody. You know, it hit the family hard. We're doing good just to see her now. A lot better than the conversations on the phone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: Still no indication, though, about exactly what happened to Jessica when she was in captivity, how she managed to get such horrific multiple injuries. Her family saying that they haven't spoken to her about that yet. She doesn't seem psychologically ready, they say, to discuss her ordeal at this stage, they say.
HEMMER: Matthew, thanks. And best of luck to her and her recovery. She has got a ways to go. But again, they're saying her prognosis is excellent.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 8, 2003 - 08:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Jessica Lynch is 19 years old. She was rescued on the 1st of April in that daring overnight raid in a hospital in Nasiriyah. Still recovering in a hospital in Germany right now, and her family has been there for several days. And today, they talked and told reporters what they're learning from Jessica. Matthew Chance, Landstuhl Medical Center, joins us now live from what was said earlier today.
Matthew, hello there.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you as well, Bill.
The medical update from the doctors who have been supervising the care of Private Jessica Lynch, saying that she is in excellent spirits, that she's well on her way to making a recovery. She's been sitting up in bed, something she couldn't do several days ago. She's even been sitting in a chair out of the bed and eating solid food for the first time on a regular basis for sometime.
Having said that, still recovering from not just the multiple wounds she incurred when she was in captivity by Iraqi forces, but also recovering from the intensive surgery on her back that had to be undertaken to correct some of those wounds or to help heal some of those wounds. So she's still not go to be flown back to the U.S. sometime yet. There is still saying there is no date set for her evacuation back to the U.S.
What we do know, though, this has been a very emotional period obviously for Jessica. It's been a very uplifting period as well. We know she had a big smile on her face. We're told that when her parents walked into the hotel room, the parents came, coming along with her brother and sister and a cousin from West Virginia, making a flight over here to sit by the bed, to comfort her, to talk to her.
Today we found out what was going through their minds, what emotions were running through them when they saw Jessica for the first since the end of the ordeal. Listen to what Gregory Jr., her brother, had to say about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREGORY LYNCH JR., JESSICA'S BROTHER: I shed a few tears before. But that really hit me hard when I walked in that room. It hit the whole family. It was just good to see her face, and the condition that she was in good shape, and the doctors there are wonderful, and the hospital and the community here is just great support for everybody. You know, it hit the family hard. We're doing good just to see her now. A lot better than the conversations on the phone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: Still no indication, though, about exactly what happened to Jessica when she was in captivity, how she managed to get such horrific multiple injuries. Her family saying that they haven't spoken to her about that yet. She doesn't seem psychologically ready, they say, to discuss her ordeal at this stage, they say.
HEMMER: Matthew, thanks. And best of luck to her and her recovery. She has got a ways to go. But again, they're saying her prognosis is excellent.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
