. >> evan thomas cole. >> reporter: evan cole's master's degree in architecture is the culmination ofh, courage and determination. >> something i had promised my friends that died in iraq, some of them saved me, that i'm going to try to do something with my life that's meaningful. >> reporter: it was 2007 when we first saw the young army specialist. he was near death when he was rushed into the field hospital in iraq. >> an open tibia fracture. >> reporter: a bomb hit his humvee killing two other troops. >> this is a quick read for the doc. >> reporter: doctors decided he should be transported to landstuhl hospital in germany. on a giant c-17, a flying intensive care unit. >> we all joined the army around the same time. >> reporter: we next saw evan five months later in the u.s. he had already endured dozens of surgeries and countless hours of horribly painful physical therapy. and he was showing signs of traumatic brain injury. >> i forget whole conversations, forgetting all kinds of stuff. and i was through a lot of extreme real bad irritability. >> reporter: his doctor did not hold

. >> evan thomas cole. >> reporter: evan cole's masters degree in architecture is a culmination of a journey by anguish, courage and determination. >> something i had promised my friends that died in iraq, some of them saved me so that i could try to do something with my life that was meaningful. >> reporter: it was 2007 when we first saw the young army specialist. he was near death when he was rushed into the field hospital in iraq. >> yeah, an open tibia fracture. >> reporter: a bomb blasted his humvee killing two other troops. >> this is a quick read for the docs. >> reporter: doctors decided he should be transported to hospital in germany. on a giant c-17 a flying intensive care unit. >> we all joined the army around the same time. >> reporter: we next saw evan five months later in the u.s. he had already endured dozens of surgeries and countless hours of horribly painful physical therapy. and he was showing signs of traumatic brain injury. conversations, forgetting all kinds of stuff. and i was in a lot of extreme real, real bad irritability. >> reporter: his doctor did not hold