New Health Update From Triple-Amputee Vet Who Built A Border Wall
It's like being tortured
Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for the outpouring of support for Brian Kolfage. He appreciates it greatly. I drove 500 miles on the way to the border yesterday, so I’m going to post the health update from Brian without adding a lot of photos or videos. The prior update is below this one.
This update is also on the official Free Brian Kolfage Substack site where I release all info from him.
From Brian:
I want to thank everyone so far for all the letters & prayers. My health here is in a continually worsening phase.
Because they have no adaptive exercise equipment for me to do cardio exercising, my body is becoming diabetic. I barely eat any food because I'm trying to keep my weight down, and when I do eat, it’s just some bran cereal. However, my A1C levels continue to rise. They are causing me permanent damage to my body on top of everything else I have going on.
They have been unable to address my horrific sciatic nerve pain because I'm sitting all day in a wheelchair; my spin is crushing that nerve, and it's something that happens a few times a week.
When I was home, I had the proper regimen to rest my spine, which allowed this pain to only happen maybe twice a year. It's excruciating, and the fact I'm being put through this is wrong; they are not able to care for my needs here.
My only remaining limb has inflamed tendons and many issues due to the overuse of it. My hand was reconstructed back at Walter Reed National Medical Center after I was originally wounded in Iraq. Those surgeons have told me repeatedly to not abuse my hand as it is being abused here, or it will essentially fall apart. I can barely lift my arm up, and my fingers lock up and don't bend or stay bent. It’s not good.
I want to thank Deborah, Diane, Karen, and Taylor, and it looks like an "Andrew," but I can’t decipher the signature. I have read your letters, and they are pinned on my bulletin board. Thank you! The staff here have been trying to help me get out through the proper networks; however, the bureaucrats in DC control everything. I'll keep everyone posted on any developments.
Thank you,
Brian
10-19-24 Edit: I was just on Steve Bannon’s show talking about Brian. Many have asked how to donate to Brian. He does not wish for any contributions at this time, but he thanks everyone. The best way to help the movement is to get a paid or free subscription and to share the page and the updates.
Hello, everyone. Jeff Rainforth here. I got an update from Brian Kolfage that he asked me to pass on.
Thanks to everyone who is helping, those who pledged support, and the outlets helping spread the word, like Jim Hoft’s Gateway Pundit.
This is the official site for the movement to Free Brian Kolfage. All communications from him will appear here.
Here’s the message from Brian:
Hey, this is Brian, I want to thank everyone for their incredible support through this difficult time. I'm in severe pain every single day.
The FBOP lied to the judge at my sentencing and stated they would have no problem giving me the meds that I take for pain. When I arrived and checked myself in last August, 15 months ago, they threw my meds in the trash and said it was against their policy to give them for pain.
In addition to that, nothing is accessible for me here, even though it's a medical facility. I feel like I’m in a third-world gulag, having to use plastic pails to go to the bathroom for both urination and defecation. I haven't even showered since I arrived here; this is inhumane and uncalled for after having given 3 limbs for this country.
I have a home that was built for me with all accessibility, from the restroom to the shower; it makes no sense why I have to be here when the feds could have placed me on home confinement since they are unable to care for me properly and humanely.
The warden and the doctor have requested that I be let out to serve my sentence at home, as they know the lack of treatment here is not okay; however, the bureaucrats in DC deny them every time.
Please keep me and my family in your prayers and share this Substack with anyone who may be able to help.
Part of the original article is below with Brian’s first letter from prison, where he explains he is slowly dying. There are also instructions how to contact him at the bottom. Thank you again, everyone, for supporting war hero Brian Kolfage!
Triple-amputee Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage is slowly dying in a federal prison. The lack of proper care for this war hero is shocking, egregious, and infuriating.
Below is an urgent message from Kolfage.
This is the official site for the movement to Free Brian Kolfage. All communications from him will appear here. I’m Jeff Rainforth, his longtime friend and colleague. I was the videographer and news editor for Kolfage’s We Build the Wall.
Kolfage was wrongfully imprisoned by the infamous SDNY Democrat operatives over being paid an approved salary for his part in getting miles of privately funded border wall built in Texas and New Mexico.
Kolfage was sentenced to 51 months by the same DOJ operation that targeted Trump. Stephen K. Bannon was pardoned by President Trump for these same charges. Following the pardon, Alvin Bragg charged Bannon through the state of New York.
Kolfage founded We Build the Wall to build border walls when the government would not because of Democratic Party obstruction.
I’ve worked with Brian since 2015, and started covering him in articles in 2012. He brought me on to We Build the Wall as the photographer and news editor. I filmed construction of our border wall from start to finish. Below is a short clip from when we were about a third of the way done.
Kolfage sent me the following message to share with the public. Because he is a triple-amputee veteran, and the “most severely wounded Airman to survive any war,” he requires special attention to his medical needs, which are not being provided in the prison.
From Kolfage:
I have to shit in a plastic pan that’s not even a bedpan. I can’t use the toilets because they are too unsafe and I have fallen off them. I have to urinate into a plastic jug too.
They have nothing for my body to stay physically healthy, they have never dealt with a triple amputee like myself. Because of their inability to care for me long-term, I’m now pre-diabetic, my livers are inflamed, my blood pressure is high, and my cholesterol is also now high. Everything they are doing to me is fucking me up internally and my organs are all having problems. The doctor here last week said I’m at a high risk for a heart attack now. This is 100% on them. I came in here healthy.
I was told I needed to see a hand surgeon now. They have ruined my last remaining limb. Like the government hasn’t taken enough of my body, they want my last remaining limb. The overuse of my hand here has destroyed it, my fingers get stuck and don’t bend. If my tendons rupture, my hand will never work again like it should. THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!
The doctor here had me taken to Mayo Hospital a few months ago because I’m in the wrong wheelchair, and it’s causing my daily excruciating sciatic nerve pain. The Mayo doctor said I needed a certain wheelchair, and the FBOP physical therapist who came with me told them right there on the spot “We don’t have funds for that”. They won’t even let me use my VA insurance to get what I need. This pain is so excruciating, it feels like when I lost my limbs in Iraq. To this day, they haven’t done anything except get me a different wheelchair cushion.
I haven’t had a proper shower in over a year since I arrived, I use baby wipes. This is also because they do not have the appropriate shower accessibility for a triple amputee. This is unacceptable!
Free Amputee Vet Brian Kolfage is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
They haven’t given me the proper meds for my pain; they said it’s against their policy, so they feed me highly addictive Oxys instead, which still don’t work. However, they give these specific meds to other inmates who have drug problems. So they wanted me to lie and say I did have a problem just to get the correct medication, which I’m not going to say.
These people are not able to care for me and my internal health is going to shit. They are way out of their league. This shouldn’t be a death sentence on my life, but slowly it’s turning to that!
Below is a 2022 drone video I took of the border wall we built. Subscribe to my YouTube for exclusive We Build the Wall footage with Kolfage and my latest work on the border.
The original article about Kolfage is also on my personal website. There are several Facebook photos and X videos that don’t work on Substack there.
Below is a short video I took of Brian at the top of the wall after we had finished construction.
As you can see, what is happening to this hero is sickening, and cannot stand. I will be organizing a movement to get Kolfage freed from prison. It will most likely be in the same vein as the rallies at Mexican consulates I organized to get combat Marine vet, Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, freed from the Mexican prison after he was arrested for accidentally crossing the border with a firearm.
If anyone would like to get in touch with Kolfage, you can write him in prison. Do not disparage prison staff when writing. It was James C. Wills, the Assistant Director of the Office of General Counsel (OGC) and the Bureau of Prisons’ General Counsel, who denied Kolfage’s compassionate release.
If you reach out to the Bureau of Prisons, please be polite and factual so as not to hurt Brian’s case.
How to write Brian:
Only use black ink on white paper, printed or handwritten.
Send correspondence to:
Federal Medical Center Rochester
Brian Kolfage 26978-017
PO Box 4000
Rochester, MN. 55903
Join the fight to get Brian Kolfage released from prison so he doesn’t die in there! He gave three limbs for our country; that’s more than enough!
This is the official site for the movement to get Kolfage freed. I’ll be heading it up and releasing all communications from Kolfage here. I started covering Kolfage in 2012 and have worked with him on almost all of his projects, including We Build the Wall, where I was the photographer and news editor. Join us to free Brian Kolfage!
While heading up the movement to free Brian, I will be filming what’s going on on the border. You can follow my work on the platforms below.
Follow me on Facebook HERE
Subscribe to my YouTube HERE
Follow me on X (Formerly Twitter) HERE
FREE BRIAN KOLFAGE!
I had written Mr. Kolfage earlier, but the prison sent the letter back because I had enclosed a blank stamped envelope. So I added some stuff to the letter, printed it out and re-sent it, without the envelope. I'm praying for his health and early release. Can't an attorney file a motion to have him released on the grounds that his current conditions constitute cruel and unusual punishment?
Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.