Anxiety mounts for vet's family in Austintown

AUSTINTOWN — In just four days, Colleen Village and her three sons may lose the last bit of normalcy in their already arduous lives.

While Village’s husband, Michael, lies in a coma at Cleveland Clinic, she and their boys — ages 15, 11 and 8 — are about to become homeless.

Michael Village, 42, a Gulf War veteran, was diagnosed in 2001 with Hodgkin’s disease, his wife said. He’s had two heart attacks, congestive heart and kidney failure and has had many emergency surgeries since early May.

The Vindicator first reported Village’s story in the May 30 article “Wars take toll on Valley families.” In that piece, Village, 35, of Austintown, described her husband’s condition and said he was put into an induced coma May 3.

She said his condition has worsened over the course of the past two months.

Doctors have since removed the medication to induce, but he remains in a coma and was moved Thursday to the Cleveland Clinic for more intensive care after his bowel ruptured. Village said she has no idea if he will wake up.

“Because of how long he’s been in the hospital, we’ve had some bad financial situations,” she said. “As of Aug. 10, we’re homeless.”

For the complete story, read Sunday's Vindicator and Vindy.com