"A really hard burden to carry": Mom fights for military families with complex medical needs
Sacrifices are part of service for military families. But for a family that has a child who needs extra medical attention, life can become even more complicated.
Austin Carrigg's purpose is to make sure her daughter, Melanie, lives a full and normal life. The 9-year-old is deaf and has Down syndrome.
"She is probably the center of our entire family," Carrigg told CBS News. "And I think that she's the person who gave us a purpose in life."
But the family of five has had to move seven times because Carrigg's husband, Joshua, is in the U.S. Army, which has impacted access to care for Melanie.
"That's a really hard burden to carry because I know that my husband has said that he would give his life for our country, but we never thought they'd ask for our daughter's," Carrigg said.
An undiagnosed blood vessel disorder led Melanie to suffer a devastating stroke two years ago.
The doctors "really dismissed us and acted like nothing was wrong," Carrigg said. "My daughter almost died. And that's hard, right? Like, I didn't trust myself. And because of it, I almost lost her."
She said being part of a military family "absolutely" altered the course of her daughter's care.
To help her daughter and others like her, Carrigg created a national nonprofit, Exceptional Families of the Military, to make it easier for military families to navigate the system.
"We're there when you need us. We know what this road is that you're working through and we're meeting with legislators to change the laws that surround the policies that affect us as military families," Carrigg said of the nonprofit's mission.
The U.S. Army told CBS News in a statement that its leaders recognize the need to improve the processes in place to help families like the Carriggs and that a new system will be rolled out this summer.
Carrigg hopes the program will be Melanie's legacy. Until then, she celebrates every day they have together.
"Last year, she was discharged right before Mother's Day from the hospital. And we made it a year. And she's doing all the things they told us she wouldn't. And I feel like I got her back. So it's a celebration," Carrigg said. "It's a celebration that she's thriving and not just surviving and that our family's still whole."
