It’s almost as if we need a whole other word beyond “hero” to describe people like Ezra Maes.
He’s a hero of a whole other class.
Maes enlisted in the U.S Army and upon joining was deployed to Poland. He was taking part in a special training session that involved him having to sleep inside a tank. Maes was asleep inside the tank when he awoke to the feeling of the tank moving.
Perseverance and resilience 💪@USArmy Spc. Ezra Maes undergoes physical rehabilitation at the Center for the Intrepid, Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas. Read his inspiring story of determination and how he plans to keep moving forward: https://t.co/WtjP2B5MV6 #KnowYourMil pic.twitter.com/KJOi4wigsF
— Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) October 12, 2019
When he woke up, Maes told the driver to hit the brakes. The problem was, the driver hadn’t started the tank.
“I called out to the driver, ‘Step on the brakes!'” Maes said. “But he shouted back that it wasn’t him.”
They attempted to use the emergency brake to stop it from moving but were unsuccessful. The tank ended up speeding down a hill and there was nothing they could do about it.
It hit speeds up to 90mph while Maes and his crew were stuck inside, unable to stop it.
There was nothing left to do but brace for the impact.
“We realized there was nothing else we could do and just held on,” he continued.
When the tank crashed, Maes was thrown across the interior. His leg ended up stuck in the gears.
The crew was hurt.
While Maes’ leg was hurt, others were in worse shape. The gunner, Sgt. Aechere Crump, was losing a lot of blood due to a gash on her thigh. There was concern that she could bleed out. The driver of the tank, Pfc. Victor Alamo, broke his back in the crash.
They needed help but Maes was stuck.
“If I didn’t help myself, my crew, no one was going to,” said Maes.
When he couldn’t free his leg, he did the unthinkable.
Maes tried to free his leg but was unable. He kept pulling on it until it was completely removed from his body.
“I pushed and pulled at my leg as hard as I could to get loose and felt a sharp tear,” Maes said. “I thought I had dislodged my leg, but when I moved away, my leg was completely gone.”
Now Maes is losing blood and time is of the essence.
“I knew I was going into shock,” he said. “All I could think about was no one knows we’re down here.”
They needed to contact someone for help but with Maes stuck and everyone else hurt, that was going to be a challenge.
“Either I step up or we all die,” he continued.
The radio was busted.
The crew’s radio wasn’t working and Maes was the only one whose phone wasn’t damaged in the crash. He texted his friend to send help, which was sent immediately. Maes would later say that his last memory was his sergeant major carrying his leg while running up a hill.
Unfortunately, doctors were unable to reattach Maes’ leg.
“I wanted to keep it, see if it could be reattached, but it was pulverized,” Maes recalled.
Maes is now undergoing physical therapy and hopes to be fitted for a prosthetic leg soon.
“I feel super lucky,” he said. “My crew all does. So many things could have gone wrong. Besides my leg, we all walked away pretty much unscathed.”
Maes doesn’t let losing his leg keep him down. Challenges like this don’t necessarily have to be a bad thing.
“When something like this happens, it’s easy to give up because your life won’t be the same, and you’re not wrong,” he said. “Life will take a 180, but it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Don’t let it hinder you from moving forward.”
You can learn more about Ezra Maes’s heroics in the video below.
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