KILLEEN, Texas — It has been almost a month since a Killeen veteran was hospitalized and placed in a medically-induced coma. Now his family needs help lifting his spirts.
Brandy Hughes has been busy helping to run her dad’s business at the Paplys Gifts and Antique Mall in Killeen. She said her father is her world.
"He is everything. He is the backbone of our family. The grandkids cannot wait for him to come home. Most of all I want him to be able to meet my kid that I’m going to have soon," said Hughes.
Her dad, Michael Wilhelm has been in a medically-induced coma since May 14. He went to Baylor Scott and White in Temple for colorectal surgery. The doctors said his lungs stopped working due to a viral infection.
Hughes said luckily there is a treatment and the doctor should be waking him up in the next two or three days. With Wilhelm’s birthday coming up on June 9, Hughes and her family are asking the community to send him birthday cards to help lift his spirits.
“I was thinking what better way than to get a whole bunch of cards, and with the shock of him waking up almost a month later, he will know that people are praying for him and thinking of him and wishing him well," she said.
Wilhelm is a retired warrant officer and has nine grandchildren who are all eager for him to come home.
"He is a warm-hearted kind person who is just super giving," said Hughes.
If you would like to send a birthday card, please send them to Paply’s Gifts & Antiques at 5505 South Fort Hood Street, Killeen, TX 76542. Cards can also be sent to 3609 Plains Drive Killeen, Texas 76542.