Mayfair soldier injured in Afghanistan is beating the odds

Kevin McCloskey fights on.

The Mayfair soldier, who lost both of his legs and suffered a host of other devastating injuries last month when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, is steadily improving, his family said earlier this week.

McCloskey, 21, initially faced impossible odds.

Besides losing his legs during the June 8 attack, McCloskey also took shrapnel in his right eye, and suffered a broken wrist, a broken collarbone, a shattered pelvis and second-degree burns over most of his body.

He underwent more than a dozen surgeries at a Texas military hospital, fought off numerous infections and spent most of his time in a medicated haze as doctors tried to stabilize his broken body.

"Now, he's up and they're getting ready to get him in a wheelchair," Tom McCloskey said of his son.

"All of the tubes are out of him, and he's ready to start eating on his own. They also took his eye patch off and said he has about 70 percent vision in the eye that took the shrapnel."

Friends and relatives continue to fly out to Texas weekly to visit and encourage the North Catholic High School alum, who still faces a long road to recovery.

Tom McCloskey said he received calls and letters of support for his son from all over the country after Kevin's picture ran on the front page of the Daily News on June 30.

"It's been unbelievable. All I can say is that our family thanks everyone for their support. The prayers are working," he said.

Friends of the McCloskey family, meanwhile, have organized a beef-and-beer benefit for Kevin on Aug. 15 at the Glaziers Hall in Northeast Philadelphia.

Tickets for the event, from 8 p.m. to midnight, cost $30 in advance and $40 at the door, said Megan Cataline, a family friend who is helping to organize the fundraiser.

Cataline said the city's local sports teams have pledged to donate tickets or other prizes to be auctioned or raffled off. So far, the Phillies have donated several packets of tickets, and the Eagles have donated a football signed by Donovan McNabb.

Tickets are available at Paddy Whacks, on Comly Road and Roosevelt Boulevard, on South Street near 2nd, and on Roosevelt Boulevard near Goodnaw Street; at 3 Monkeys, on James Street near Convent Lane; at McGeehan's Pub, at Cottage Street and Cottman Avenue; and at Caspers, at Cottman and Frankford avenues.

For more information, visit kevinmccloskeybenefit.org. *