Supporters rally to help US Army pilot critically wounded in Iraq

An Army pilot critically injured by a Christmas Day attack in Iraq remains in intensive care more than a week after a militia's drone struck three service members stationed in Erbil — but his friends and family are encouraged by the way that the public has rallied to support him as he recovers.

Chief Warrant Officer 4 Garrett Illerbrunn was struck in the head by by an Iraqi militia drone strike on the American base in northern Iraq, leaving Illerbrunn with shrapnel in his head. The shrapnel hit the motor function of his brain in what a friend of family said doctors considered a «devasting neurological injury.»

Illerbrunn's wife, Lorna, said in statements sent to ABC News that the family is touched by a GoFundMe effort to raise money to cover costs they may incur to outfit their home with ramps and rails, noting the fundraiser has brought in more than $86,000 so far. Lorna Illerbrunn, a marathon runner, has told friends, «This is an ultramarathon; this is not a 5K.»

Melissa Young, a fellow community member in Pinehurst, North Carolina, who has spearheaded the fundraiser, and her fiance are close friends with the Illerbrunns. The families use each other's help coaching teams and ferrying their kids between piano practice and karate. The GoFundMe idea was initially born to help friends build a treehouse for the Illerbrunn's son — his promised Christmas gift this year.

Young said the response to the fundraiser has been overwhelming, even for a community with many military families like hers who know the risk of deployment.

«You believe that some people will step up to help. We did not believe it would be this much. You hope — there's always hope that it will — but everybody has been so wonderful,» she said.

Young said that the