Donny Eslinger of Jemison is gradually making his way closer to home as he and his family prepare to fly from Washington D.C. to Tampa today for his rehabilitation.

Eslinger, a U.S. soldier, was critically wounded about a month ago at his unit’s base in Afghanistan.

For the last two weeks, he has undergone surgeries and treatment for his injuries at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland.

President Barack Obama awarded Eslinger a Purple Heart on Oct. 10 for being wounded in service.

Eslinger will be transferred to Tampa for more extensive rehabilitation for a traumatic brain injury he received from the Afghan grenades.

According to Mary Sazera, Eslinger’s mother, they could not leave Maryland on Tuesday, Oct. 25 as planned because of unfinished paperwork for the military.

Sazera said they expect to leave by Oct. 31.

“We will leave this facility with excitement of moving on to the next step, but it will be hard to say goodbye to my ‘family’ here,” Sazera said in a Facebook post Oct. 26. “Some have been here for months. Some are moving on to other hospitals in the U.S. Others are still waiting, praying and hoping.”

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