William Davis: “I was chasing my dreams. Now I’m living them.”
These days, it’s hard to believe that William Davis ever struggled with social interaction or even getting a good night’s sleep. His friendly demeanor comes across immediately and his positive attitude is infectious. It’s easy to think that he’s sported the same youthful energy without fail since his days as a newly enlisted soldier.
“Going into the military I was excited about the opportunity. I liked knowing that wherever I went, whatever job I had, my basic needs would be met,” says Davis. “I was ready to spend my entire career there.”
Unfortunately, Davis’ military career was cut short by a service-connected disability. However, he hoped the benefits and guaranteed pay he enjoyed during service might continue in his life as a Veteran. Before discharge, Davis had a superior who was familiar with disability ratings look at his case. “They told me I should have a 100% rating,” Davis recalls. “It was going to be a long road to get there, but I just had to keep trying.”
But when Davis filed an initial claim with the VA, he only received an 80% disability rating. The years that followed would prove to be the hardest Davis had ever known. Daily life, let alone the pursuit of a more accurate disability rating, felt difficult and sometimes impossible. A Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, he was suffering from severe PTSD. Anxiety displaced his optimism. Night terrors were the norm.
At the lowest points in his life, Davis was afraid to go to sleep. He was living alone, eating dollar store dinners, peering through his blinds in a state of paranoia and avoiding public spaces at all costs.
“I had to have my headphones if I was out grocery shopping or at a laundromat,” Davis recalls shaking his head in near disbelief. ‘That’s how much I didn’t want to interact with anybody. It was a dark time.”
Then, one night, in a rare stretch of peaceful sleep, a lucid dream showed Davis that he needed to get serious about pursuing his disability benefits with the VA.
“It was at that point I realized I needed to close that chapter of my life” Davis recalls. “My mind was made up: ‘Every day, I’m going to work on myself and do whatever I can to get better.’”
Indeed, the next day, he called the law firm that would eventually get him to a 90% disability rating with the VA. Still, he kept his sights on the 100% rating he’d been encouraged to pursue. Working with a VA-accredited attorney, he tried multiple times to get there. But, after the third denial, it began to feel he was chasing a lost cause. Something was missing.
That’s when he heard about the importance of something called a “nexus medical opinion.” Research on that phrase led him to Trajector (then known as Vet Comp and Pen). He immediately connected with co-founder Gina Uribe who listened to Davis’ complete story.
“I poured my heart out to Gina,” Davis recalls. “She brought me in. She listened to me. After that, when I read my story and the details of my service and my medical journey… it gave me chills. Trajector really helped me tell my story. It gave me the confidence I needed to move forward.”
Sure enough, Davis’ improved medical evidence earned him the 100% rating he’d always known he qualified for, deep down. The VA awarded him a TDIU rating that dated back to 2009. He wasn’t overdrawing his bank account every month anymore. His credit improved. A substantial sum in back pay allowed him to start saving again. “It felt like winning the lottery,” says Davis.
Years later, Will Davis’ service-connected disabilities remain. Only now, he’s happy to be out in public, especially when he’s working at his new gig — telling Veterans how they can use medical evidence to tell their complete medical story. “My disabilities don’t define me. They’ve helped make me the stronger person that I am today, and I enjoy telling my stories,” says Davis. “Being out there, speaking from the heart, it’s a blessing to be able to share a positive resource like Trajector… I love being in front of people. I love helping Veterans.”
Now, Davis says, the only hard thing about going to sleep is knowing that he’s missing another 8 hours of a beautiful life. “But that’s okay,” he adds. “Before, I was chasing my dreams. Now, I’m living them.”
