Since returning from Iraq paralyzed from the chest down, Tomas Young has faced numerous battles. He’s had to learn to function with a damaged body, a struggle documented in the Phil Donahue-produced "Body of War." Then, last summer, after the filming ended, Young fell from his wheelchair and sustained a head injury that resulted in concentration and memory loss.

Young talks about that, as well as the anti-war movement and the strong role he has played in it, in an interview he did with Minnesota Independent before the release of "Body of War." Two weeks after that interview, Young went to the hospital in his native Kansas City with severe pain in his left arm. He was sent home. Later, Young would suffer a pulmonary embolism and lapse into a coma, after the pain in his arm turned out to be a blood clot that traveled his lungs.

Young’s assistant Kelly Armstrong says Young still remains in the ICU, and that he’s had even further setbacks since being hospitalized. After waking up from the coma and showing some communication ability, Young was removed from the ICU. When his condition deteriorated over night, he was brought back to the ICU, where he remains today. He has lost motor skills and much of his communication function. No one is sure how long his recovery will take, or if he will fully regain his speech. But for now, he can smile, Armstrong says. And he can convey understanding of the huge outpouring of support he has received since he first began speaking out against the war. "I don’t think he ever realized just how many people have been touched by his words," Armstrong says.

Because he is in the ICU, Young cannot receive flowers. But cards and well wishes can be sent to:

Tomas Young/Patient

St. Lukes Hospital

4401 Wornall Rd

Kansas City, MO 64111