thedrifter
06-29-03, 08:25 AM
A Miracle Marine
Crushing injury in Iraq didn’t stop him
By Jennifer C. Smith
Staff Writer
June 28, 2003
When U.S. Marine Cpl. Hector L. Delgado of Selden woke up two weeks after the April 14 accident in Iraq that nearly killed him, he was shocked when he looked at his body.
"I couldn't speak because I had tubes coming out everywhere," he said. "My stomach had been split open and stitched and covered."
Doctors said the fact that Delgado, 23, was alive was a miracle: he had multiple bone fractures and internal bleeding after a half-filled 8,000-gallon fuel tank, which had been propped up on metal supports in the sand, fell on him and two other Marines, trapping them for 25 minutes.
Cpl. Armondo Ariel Gonzalez, 25, of Hialeah, Fla., was killed instantly, and Lance Cpl. Matthew Repp, 21, of Westhampton, escaped with minor injuries.
The Marines had dragged a cot between two fuel tanks to get some respite from the scorching sun.
Delgado has been recovering since April 21 at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., where he has undergone numerous surgeries for his splintered pelvis, broken hip, broken leg, and a torn sciatic nerve, which runs through the hip into the foot. He also suffered from compartment syndrome, which is excessive internal pressure, and was caused by the weight of the fuel tank. Doctors had to cut into his stomach to relieve the pressure.
"Some doctors have said I won't have a problem walking, some of the doctors say I will," he said. He said he has no feeling in his right foot and bottom part of his right leg.
He will begin rehabilitation next week at St. Charles Rehabilitation Center of Port Jefferson.
His family and girlfriend, Andrea Davanzo, of Farmingville, have visited him every weekend. "I'm just glad he's alive," said his mother, Pilar Delgado.
Repp received cuts to his upper arm and lower leg, as well as a badly sprained left ankle. "It was at least two days before I could hobble," he said.
All three were members of the 2nd Transport Support Battalion in Iraq, which provided Kuwaiti fuel tankers, security for food and supply transports. Delgado said that on the day of the accident, he and the other Marines sought rest and shade at Camp Viper, south of the city of Nasiriya. The city gained headlines a few weeks ago as the site where U.S. Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch was kept in an Iraqi hospital as a prisoner of war. "We were sitting around having a conversation, eating," he said.
Repp said they had worked about 30 hours beforehand and were looking forward to reading mail that had just arrived. "Next thing I remember," he said, "I heard a sound like steel twisting."
The tank pinned Delgado, 23, below the waist. "At first I thought I was going to die," he said. "I was screaming at the top of lungs."
Gonzalez was pinned below the shoulders and killed.
Most of Repp's body was trapped below the tank, with the two steel beams that propped the tank lying across his knees and shin. "I lost all the feelings in my leg and arm," he said.
Repp said a Navy corpsman held his hand, coaching him to keep positive. "I was going in and out of consciousness," he said.
After failed attempts by a forklift and a crane, another crane finally was able to lift the tank. The men were taken to the medical center at the camp, and Delgado was airlifted by helicopter to the USS Comfort, a hospital ship stationed in the northern Persian Gulf.
Delgado's case was filmed as part of the one-hour Discovery Health Channel special, "Lifeline: Hospital Ship at War," which was shown June 6. The program will be rebroadcast Aug. 1 at 10 p.m. From the Comfort, Delgado was taken to the Naval Medical Center.
Delgado said the hardest part of his recovery is his loss of independence. "I have to rely on other people for simple things," he said, "like getting up and getting a drink of water."
Despite what has happened, Delgado said he is still ready to serve the military. "I will do whatever the Marine Corps wants me to do," he said.
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-liiraq0628,0,4669312.story?coll=ny-li-span-headlines
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
Crushing injury in Iraq didn’t stop him
By Jennifer C. Smith
Staff Writer
June 28, 2003
When U.S. Marine Cpl. Hector L. Delgado of Selden woke up two weeks after the April 14 accident in Iraq that nearly killed him, he was shocked when he looked at his body.
"I couldn't speak because I had tubes coming out everywhere," he said. "My stomach had been split open and stitched and covered."
Doctors said the fact that Delgado, 23, was alive was a miracle: he had multiple bone fractures and internal bleeding after a half-filled 8,000-gallon fuel tank, which had been propped up on metal supports in the sand, fell on him and two other Marines, trapping them for 25 minutes.
Cpl. Armondo Ariel Gonzalez, 25, of Hialeah, Fla., was killed instantly, and Lance Cpl. Matthew Repp, 21, of Westhampton, escaped with minor injuries.
The Marines had dragged a cot between two fuel tanks to get some respite from the scorching sun.
Delgado has been recovering since April 21 at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., where he has undergone numerous surgeries for his splintered pelvis, broken hip, broken leg, and a torn sciatic nerve, which runs through the hip into the foot. He also suffered from compartment syndrome, which is excessive internal pressure, and was caused by the weight of the fuel tank. Doctors had to cut into his stomach to relieve the pressure.
"Some doctors have said I won't have a problem walking, some of the doctors say I will," he said. He said he has no feeling in his right foot and bottom part of his right leg.
He will begin rehabilitation next week at St. Charles Rehabilitation Center of Port Jefferson.
His family and girlfriend, Andrea Davanzo, of Farmingville, have visited him every weekend. "I'm just glad he's alive," said his mother, Pilar Delgado.
Repp received cuts to his upper arm and lower leg, as well as a badly sprained left ankle. "It was at least two days before I could hobble," he said.
All three were members of the 2nd Transport Support Battalion in Iraq, which provided Kuwaiti fuel tankers, security for food and supply transports. Delgado said that on the day of the accident, he and the other Marines sought rest and shade at Camp Viper, south of the city of Nasiriya. The city gained headlines a few weeks ago as the site where U.S. Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch was kept in an Iraqi hospital as a prisoner of war. "We were sitting around having a conversation, eating," he said.
Repp said they had worked about 30 hours beforehand and were looking forward to reading mail that had just arrived. "Next thing I remember," he said, "I heard a sound like steel twisting."
The tank pinned Delgado, 23, below the waist. "At first I thought I was going to die," he said. "I was screaming at the top of lungs."
Gonzalez was pinned below the shoulders and killed.
Most of Repp's body was trapped below the tank, with the two steel beams that propped the tank lying across his knees and shin. "I lost all the feelings in my leg and arm," he said.
Repp said a Navy corpsman held his hand, coaching him to keep positive. "I was going in and out of consciousness," he said.
After failed attempts by a forklift and a crane, another crane finally was able to lift the tank. The men were taken to the medical center at the camp, and Delgado was airlifted by helicopter to the USS Comfort, a hospital ship stationed in the northern Persian Gulf.
Delgado's case was filmed as part of the one-hour Discovery Health Channel special, "Lifeline: Hospital Ship at War," which was shown June 6. The program will be rebroadcast Aug. 1 at 10 p.m. From the Comfort, Delgado was taken to the Naval Medical Center.
Delgado said the hardest part of his recovery is his loss of independence. "I have to rely on other people for simple things," he said, "like getting up and getting a drink of water."
Despite what has happened, Delgado said he is still ready to serve the military. "I will do whatever the Marine Corps wants me to do," he said.
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-liiraq0628,0,4669312.story?coll=ny-li-span-headlines
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: