ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Greg and Diane Timoney are clinging to some good news received two days after finding out their son, 1st Lt. Ryan Timoney, was injured when an improvised explosive device exploded.
The 26-year-old is being transferred from Afghanistan to a hospital in Germany, and while his parents still don't know the extent of his injuries, they can only assume its at least a good sign he's stable enough to be transferred.
The Timoneys got that call Sunday night that Ryan was seriously wounded.
"He said, 'Ma'am, your son is alive, but he's very seriously wounded,' and that was pretty much all I heard until I screamed for (Greg) to pick up the phone," Diane said.
Ryan was wounded when a suicide bomber attacked his unit Sunday morning.
"The description is a fragment wound to the head, which is the most concerning," Greg said. "He also took a puncture wound to the stomach, a puncture wound to the foot and a fractured ankle."
After hearing the news, Diane said she had a panic attack and was rushed to be treated at the hospital herself. But Tuesday, the Timoneys were in higher spirits, looking at photos, a postcard Ryan sent last week, and recalling memories of him as a child.
Ryan was always the little boy out in the neighborhood leading all the other boys on their quests, his parents said. They said he was always the one in camouflage.
The Timoneys haven't been able to talk to a doctor about the extent of Ryan's injuries yet. All they know is that he's been sedated since it happened.
"The waiting now is the hardest part, not knowing what exactly his injuries are," Diane said.
Ryan's parents are now waiting on the next phone call, holding onto hope and prayer that the next conversation will be about him pulling through.
"We feel the love, we feel the support and we know our prayers are being answered, and so we take it one moment at a time," Diane said.
On Sunday, Diane was looking up the time difference in Afghanistan online and came across an article about two NATO soldiers killed in Tarin Kowt. Hours later she learned those were two of the 12 men in Ryan's troop.
They had only been in Afghanistan for three weeks supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.