Palo Alto — Marine Lance Cpl. Jorge Ortiz, 19, of Fresno, who was critically injured in an explosion in Afghanistan, rests at the Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Palo Alto, where physicians and therapists take a team approach to care for those who have suffered catastrophic injuries.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

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Palo Alto — Ortiz gazes into a mirror in the physical therapy room at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Palo Alto, one of four such specialized trauma centers nationwide. A combat photographer, he was taking pictures of a captured weapons cache in Sangin, Afghanistan, on Jan. 15 when he stepped on a buried explosive device.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

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Palo Alto — Dr. Ted Scott, the attending physician at the Palo Alto hospital's polytrauma unit, gives Ortiz a quick checkup. The explosion that changed his life ripped off his legs above the knees and snapped off four fingers on his left hand and the thumb on his right hand.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

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Palo Alto — Ortiz, who is known among the hospital's medical personnel for his determination, pauses for a moment during an occupational therapy sesssion. When other patients are taken on outings, Ortiz prefers to stay and work on his memory and coordination therapy.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

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Palo Alto — Ortiz, left, and Marine Cpl. Farrell Gilliam, 22, of Ridgecrest, a machine-gunner who served in his regiment and was wounded in an explosion a week before him, race their wheelchairs through the halls at the Veterans Affairs trauma center in Palo Alto.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=32220

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Palo Alto — Gilliam, manuevering from a bed in the physical therapy unit into his wheelchair, had stepped on a buried bomb. The blast took off both legs and severely damaged his right arm. He also suffered a severe abdominal injury.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

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Palo Alto — Gilliam holds a portrait of himself while he sits in his wheelchair at the VA hospital. He is set to be transferred to the Center for the Intrepid, a rehabilitation facility specializing in amputees and burn victims adjacent to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

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Palo Alto — Gilliam gets a checkup from Dr. Ted Scott in the physical therapy room. The Palo Alto hospital has a staff of medical specialists and an agreement with nearby Stanford University School of Medicine. There are specialists in amputation, auditory impairments, blindness, spinal cord injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=32223

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Palo Alto — Gilliam's brother, Daniel Lorente, shows several pages of the Marine's journal and his Purple Heart on his bed at the VA hospital. Lorente, 27, has put his plans to go to law school on hold to help his brother. He is living in a free military facility across the street from the hospital so he can be close and provide moral support to Gilliam.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=32224

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