WALLS, MS (abc24.com) - There's disappointing news for Horn Lake Army Private Taylor Odom. There will be no happy homecoming for the injured Mid-South soldier.
He was scheduled to return Friday, November 30 after being injured in a training exercise at Fort Carson, Colorado. The military wasn't willing to pick up the tab to fly him home, leaving family members frustrated and wondering why.
"I would like to thank you for everybody that has helped with my process here and yeah, I just want to come home for a little bit," Odom told abc24.com by phone.
"Yesterday afternoon I got a phone call saying they are sending his mother home, supposedly tomorrow, and that he is staying and that they are taking him to the base. I don't know why. I don't know if they think their therapy is better or what they're doing," said his step-father, Chris Taylor. "Our goal was to get him here for the holidays, that way he could spend some time for his brain to try and heal and let him see family and friends and see who he remembers and who he doesn't."
Odom is disappointed; his mother, Jennifer Herrin, is upset. She admits she is afraid of leaving her son in Colorado without his family.
"At this point he can't officially sign anything legal or make any kind of major decisions on his own so I'm supposed to leave him, you know, a thousand miles away from home like this with no family support and help my son make decisions and that's my big issue. I just don't think that's right. Memphis has great healthcare," she said.
Mississippi State Representative Chuck Espy got involved after we first reported Private Odom's story. He said, "I think we are 100 percent clear that the army is going to pay all of his illness and then we are probably about 80 percent sure that we will be bringing him home shortly."
Taylor's step-dad says doctors believe Odom should be surrounded by family and friends, but as of right now there is no time frame on when he will be able to return home.
