U.S. Army Spc. Niccola DeVereaux is not headed back to Iraq this month for another tour of duty, despite orders to do so.

The 25-year-old DVC student was the subject of a story in the April 9 issue of The Inquirer, telling the reporter a return to Iraq after 18 months of active duty that ended in 2006 “will completely decimate my life.”

He was spared as a result of scoliosis, a medical condition in which a person’s spine is curved from side to side.

DeVereaux has always had the condition, but the Army was willing to ignore it when he first signed up.

Military conditions aggravated it, because he often had to lift heavy objects and a wall fell on him during combat.

While looking for a deferment and exploring his legal options, DeVereaux was told by a doctor that, if forced to return to the military, he could only be required to do so much lifting a day.

Shortly thereafter, he received a phone call. The U.S. Army, the caller said, no longer needed him.

“Awesome, that’s how I feel about it,” DeVereaux said of his medical discharge for injuries received during his first deployment.

He plans to continue with school. An artist, DeVereaux said he hopes someday to illustrate story boards for a motion picture.

DeVereaux urged anyone facing a similar situation with the military to exercise his or her rights as a civilian to a lawyer and to an appeal.

“If you don’t want to be in the military, use your rights you have rights now,” he said. “I fought for these rights, [and] now I get to exercise them.”