Just found a blog that is written by Joshua Sparling's brother-in-law, which tells a bit about how his injuries happened -- it's the part dated Nov. 29, 2005.
I hope it's okay to post part of it here.
http://blog.jmsteadman.com/
"His injury was due to an IED (improvised explosive device) that was activated while he was on patrol in Iraq. His shin was severely fractured and pieces of it are missing as well as a lot of muscle and skin as well. Today or tomorrow they begin reconstructing his leg. This will take five or more different surgeries. The plan is to strengthen and heal the remaining bone and replace the missing part with a titanium rod. They will also need to use muscle from his thigh to replace the muscle lost in his lower leg and then graft skin from his back to his leg. Praise the Lord he still has feeling in all five of his toes, but no mobility. Doctors have high hopes for his leg although the recovery will be between 12-18 months.
"Continue to pray for Josh's physical as well as spiritual condition. It will be very difficult for Josh to go from a healthy and strong 24-year-old soldier to a weak and almost helpless patient. Pray that God will use this tremendous trial in his life."
thanks for the link to his brother in laws blog. I am sure he knows by now how many people do really care.