Monday, May, 2, 2022

Our walk today was dedicated in honor of:

Army CPL Luis Carlos Ruan, Age 23 of Long Beach, CA.
Died Apr. 20, 2020

Cpl Luis Carlos Ruan was born in Long Beach, Ca on January 26, 1997 to Juana Rodela and Sotero Ruan. He also has two older sister who go by the name of Miriam and Nayeli Ruan. Luis was a happy kid growing up. He liked to play with the kids around their neighborhood. He always had a smile on his face and loved to laugh. His family moved to Taft California when Luis was 8 years old. He went to Jefferson elementary, then went off to Roosevelt, Lincoln Jr High and then he graduates Taft Union High in 2015. Luis loved to play soccer. He started playing AYSO when we was 9 years old. Luis started off as keeper or goalie. He then went to play for the Jr high and high school. Luis was always so friendly. He had many friends and loved to make people laugh. He grew up loving cars like his dad. Cars and soccer were two of his hobbies. Luis enlisted in the military in the summer of 2016. He wanted something better in life. Wanted to go to school and be a CHP and he hoped that being in the military will help him reach his goals. He left for the army in august of 2016. Luis was sent to boot camp and was stationed in Fort Benning, GA. Luis then went to graduate boot camp in December of 2016. After boot camp Luis was then stationed in Fort Bliss, Tx. He was working for B Co, 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division. Luis was stationed in Fort Bliss for about 3 years. He lived in El Paso, Tx for 3 years. He met friends and lived a nice life. On January 22, 2019 Luis was in a military accident where 2 young men passed and he was left with a traumatic brain injury. That’s when Luis and his family started their journey to his recovery. Luis was sent to different hospitals in California that helped with his recovery. At the end of his recovery journey Luis was back in El Paso, Tx where he passed away in April 20, 2020 a year after his accident. Luis is survived by his parents, sisters and nieces and nephews. Luis is loved by man. His family hope to keep his memory alive by doing things in his honor. Luis was and will always be a hero.

Stryker vehicles crashed while training an hour away from El Paso Texas. During the collision he instantly suffered a skull fracture to the left side of his head. While two instantly suffered devastating outcomes, some only suffered minor injuries, as for Luis his battle had just begun. While he was losing blood profusely, he still managed to try to climb out of the vehicle through the top latch. He was at lifted to the army hospital where is neurosurgeon performed an emergency craniotomy to relieve the pressure and swelling within his brain. He wasn’t able to control this vitals nor his breathing, so after the surgery he was placed on life support. During the time he stayed there, he needed blood transfusions and he also developed pneumonia. The doctors diagnosed him with a severe traumatic brain injury. The doctors also said that he was never going to be able to breath on his own nor wake up. Luis was then moved to San Diego, California so he can get off the ventilator, and a month later he was taken off life support and breathing on his own. In April, he was then moved to he rehab facility in Palo Alto, California. There they worked on awakening him and moving him around, stretching him and coming up with a plan to get him better. The program was only 3 months long and even though he made a lot of progress there it wasn’t enough to keep him there. Luis was then moved back to El Paso Texas, where is wife moved him to a nursing home so she can be closer to her family. He was there for about a year and was sent to the hospital multiple times. He later passed away on April 20, 2020 from his injuries. Luis will always be remembered by family and close friends. Everyone always wanted to be around him because of the energy he has. Luis is survived by his parents, sisters and nieces and nephews. His family hope to keep his memory alive by doing things in his honor. Luis was and will always be a hero.

We had a great 8.53 Mile walk today. We started out by walking by Lake Holiday and then we headed up town to the War Memorial Park. We then headed to the Centennial Park and spent some time in that park then headed back towards Sparta Hwy. What a beautiful day. I want to thank all who honked, waved, and saluted in helping me honor this hero. We had 197 honks. Thank you !

Army CPL Luis Carlos Ruan will not be forgotten !