COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Home
from A1
knew he would have to play
a part in turning things
around for this family.
The War at Home
In addition to the house’s
condition, Bush was fur-
ther motivated to help
upon hearing Jayson’s sto-
ry.
Jayson is a disabled vet-
eran of the Iraq War. He
had already served in the
U.S. Marine Corps when
he chose to answer Presi-
dent George Bush’s call for
a troop surge in the Iraq
War and at 34 years old, he
went overseas as an infan-
try medic.
During training in Ku-
wait, he participated in a
Humvee Egress Assistance
Trainer, a simulation of
a vehicle rollover which
allows crews to rehearse
and physically execute the
necessary steps required to
survive an incident.
While upside down in
the simulation, Jayson was
unbuckled improperly. The
fall caused severe injuries
to Jayson’s jaw, teeth, eye
muscle, brain and herniat-
ed three discs in his neck
and two in his back.
Some of these injuries
had not fully manifested,
however, and Jayson told
his doctor that he was set
on following this team into
Iraq and was prepared to
go in against medical ad-
vice. He was written pre-
scriptions, filled out an
incident report and was on
his way across the border
within hours.
“Had I known, I proba-
bly would’ve stepped out,”
Jayson said of his more se-
rious injuries. “I didn’t re-
alize I was that injured.”
While out on a mission,
Jayson was injured again
in a non-combat incident
with a gash to his leg. De-
spite attempts to treat it,
the wound became septic
and the resulting necessary
surgery paralyzed his foot.
To date, Jayson has had
48 surgeries related to his
injuries and continues to
have extreme nerve pain —
pain so intense he has had
bouts of vomiting. He also
has an implanted spinal
cord stimulator that sends
electrical impulses to out-
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Department at 942-3340.
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pace the pain signals to his
brain.
This, paired with a trau-
matic brain injury and
post-traumatic stress dis-
order (PTSD), made re-
turning to life at home in
2010 a challenge.
One day in 2011, his in-
ner struggle put him on
the verge of committing
suicide.
“I was tired of being a
burden and hurting peo-
ple,” he said.
A fortuitous knock at
the door that moment by
Jayson’s parents diverted
him from a tragedy and to-
ward a path of recovery.
Fortune turned again
that year when an eight-
week old puppy came into
his life. Jayson channeled
all his energy into training
the golden retriever Arra-
belle as a therapy dog. At
first a project in his own
recovery, the training be-
came an area of passion for
the veteran.
Jayson eventually created
a pack of four service dogs,
which he uses in his vol-
unteer work with Creslane
Intergenerational Reading
Collaboration, a program
which helps kids in grades
K-3 learn to read. The ca-
nines attend reading ses-
sions with the children,
teaching them about the
role of service dogs and
providing some their own
therapeutic moments.
“I found the dogs really
calmed kids down. It’s in-
credible,” Jayson said.
From Jayson’s project,
the Southmayds eventu-
ally launched their own
business, SouthPaws LLC,
which trains service dogs
to meet the needs of their
clients.
Jayson has also logged
hundreds of hours to peer
mentoring with the Vet-
erans Treatment Court, a
specialty court which helps
set veterans on more pro-
ductive paths if they are in
legal trouble due to mental
disorders or drug addic-
tions.
Jayson lamented that
veterans are generally not
taught how to return as
a citizen, forcing them to
fight another war at home,
but the counseling received
through the program can
greatly aid with reintegra-
tion into society.
“It’s a way to make them
accountable, too,” he said,
noting the authorship it in-
stills in those who receive
treatment.
“The thing that saved
me was my work with the
kids, my peer mentoring
with Lane County Veterans
[Treatment] Court and the
dogs,” he said, crediting his
survival also to the deep
patience and compassion
of his wife Misty, who has
cared for him through his
trials.
“She’s an angel,” he said.
Unhoused, but
Undaunted
By January 2019, the
family had just gotten their
finances in the black for the
first time since Jayson re-
turned from the war. They
even made plans for an an-
niversary celebration and
family vacation in March.
But just as things were
looking up, life threw a cur-
veball when last year’s his-
toric snowstorm brought
four trees down onto the
family’s house. The final
tree penetrated the roof
and came crashing into the
living room, sending the
family diving into adjacent
rooms for safety.
Power was out and rural
roads were blocked. The
family decided to hook up
the generator and ride out
the storm.
That night, Jayson and
Misty brought their chil-
dren into their room as it
was the only place in the
house to sleep where they
were sure no trees could
come down on them.
Then Misty awoke to the
sound of the carbon mon-
oxide alarm going off.
She managed to rouse
her husband and the two
attempted to articulate the
situation to each other but
found it near impossible to
string sentences together
as their speech had already
begun slurring.
“I’ve never been so
scared in my life,” recalled
Misty.
They hurried their chil-
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dren outside into their
Jeep, drove into a field,
rolled down the windows
and turned on the heater.
Jayson remembered his
medical training on carbon
monoxide.
“Five hours after you’re
out of the exposed area, it’s
still 50 percent in your sys-
tem,” he said. “You can still
die.”
The family spent the
night in the field, Jayson
staying awake to monitor
his family and keep them
from nodding off.
With some roads cleared
the next day, the South-
mayds drove into town for
supplies, but the snow be-
gan falling again with an
expected eight more inch-
es on the way. Not willing
to return to be trapped
in a damaged house, they
found a hotel.
It would be a further 14
months of hotels, rentals
and RV trailers before the
Southmayds entered their
own home again.
With
an
estimated
$226,000 in damages and
a little under half covered
by insurance, Jayson and
MIsty opted to save on
construction costs by en-
listing the help of friends to
tear the house down to its
studs to prepare it for re-
construction.
The Southmayds had
also entered into a deal with
a contractor acquaintance
who the family would not
name for this story, citing
legal reasons.
From its skeletal state,
the contractor directed a
team to work on the house’s
foundations, plumb-ing,
electrical, roofing, siding,
trusses and finally sheet-
rock before walking off the
job in March, stating he
could not finish the project
for the original price.
The home was still un-
equipped for a family to
live in, so family friends
through the Creswell
Church Christ volunteered
to paint the subfloor, install
cabinets and appliances
and make other cosmetic
finishing touches.
On Easter Sunday, after
more than a year without a
permanent home and mov-
5A
ing 11 times, the South-
mayds moved into their
reconstructed home — but
it wasn’t long before they
began noticing problems.
“We started noticing lit-
tle things here, little things
there,” said Misty. “Then
bigger and bigger things.”
Jayson
and
Misty
brought the issues up with
the contractor but could
not get them rectified.
Communication
be-
tween the Southmayds
and the contractor finally
broke down after the fam-
ily received a bill in June
for $162,000 instead of the
expected $94,000. In the
same message, they were
notified that the contrac-
tor could not provide per-
mits because none were
required for the work.
The Southmayds also
learned that no county in-
spector had been to the
house during the construc-
tion period.
Despite the frustration,
Jayson and Misty turned to
the building code institu-
tions rather than seek legal
recompense.
“One
thing
that’s
weighed on my heart is
how hateful and angry ev-
eryone is right now,” said
Jayson. “Right now is the
opportunity to show mer-
cy. Now more than ever.”
In July, after exhausting
other options by sending
the contractor numerous
certified letters, the South-
mayds were put in con-
tact with Bush, who is the
building official for Cot-
tage Grove, Creswell, Ve-
neta and Coburg.
Bush’s initial assump-
tion that the case was an
exaggerated disagreement
quickly evaporated when
he saw the extent of house’s
problems.
In addition to wires
hanging out of the wall, a
host of other issues were
found such as the roof
slumping, weak founda-
tions, a leaking sewer pipe
and a lack of nails on the
house’s siding, which cause
the panels to slap the side
of the house when the wind
blows, triggering Jayson’s
PTSD.
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