{"id":48156,"date":"2021-08-25T13:58:33","date_gmt":"2021-08-25T13:58:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/08\/25\/this-soldier-amputated-his-own-leg-to-help-his-crew-during-a-tank-crash\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:46:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:46:51","slug":"this-soldier-amputated-his-own-leg-to-help-his-crew-during-a-tank-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2021\/08\/25\/this-soldier-amputated-his-own-leg-to-help-his-crew-during-a-tank-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"Soldier of the Year 2021 amputated his own leg to help his crew during a tank crash"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A portrait in grit and self-sacrifice, Sgt. Ezra Maes did the unthinkable in order to try to help a teammate: he amputated his own leg after a tank accident.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

Recently retired Sgt. Ezra Maes first made headlines for his 2018 heroism after he amputated his own leg in a crumpled M1 Abrams tank in order to help the other members of his crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maes, who at the time of the accident was participating in an Atlantic Resolve exercise in Slovakia, was awakened when his tank began careening downhill after multiple brake failures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vehicle smashed into an embankment, and the turret crushed and pinned his leg. Maes tried to pull himself free so he could apply a tourniquet on Sgt. Aechere Crump, who had a massive gash on her thigh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maes freed himself, but not his leg, which ripped from his torso and remained under the turret.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He quickly applied a hasty tourniquet to the stump with his belt, ensured Crump and the driver were stabilized, and used his cell phone \u2014 which had miraculously survived the accident and somehow had adequate service in the Slovakian wilderness \u2014 to contact a friend to send help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He made international headlines for his actions after an Army public affairs officer interviewed him in October 2019, more than a year after the incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s told the story countless times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But these days, Maes \u2014 our 2021 Soldier of the Year \u2014 wants to talk about his new future, and his plans to help other amputee veterans rebuild healthy, happy lives after their injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Army Times conducted a phone interview with Maes from his new home in Denver. The former tanker finally received his medical retirement June 27, more than two years after the accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He spent most of that time assigned to a Soldier Recovery Unit at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. The SRU consists of injured and ill troops focusing on their physical recoveries until the Army can determine whether to retain, retire or separate them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Sgt. Ezra Maes undergoes physical rehabilitation at the Center for the Intrepid, Brooke Army Medical Center\u2019s cutting-edge rehabilitation center on Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Oct. 2, 2019. (U.S. Army photo by Corey Toye)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI probably set the record for the longest time spent at one of the warrior transition battalions,\u201d he said, using the SRU\u2019s former designation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life there changed dramatically after the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, Maes explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was really hard. I think most of us were just told to sit in [our] rooms,\u201d he said. \u201cI have a lot of friends that have auto-immune diseases, or they\u2019re coming out of surgery themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was promoted to sergeant while at the SRU, and his lengthy tenure there enabled him to serve as a mentor to other soldiers at the unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI did my best to try to inspire people around me,\u201d Maes proudly said. \u201cI tried to set the example and show them \u2018Hey, this injury shouldn\u2019t be the end-all, be-all for you. You can still go out there and do some good.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the transition to civilian life has \u201cbeen strange, to say the least.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Maes is up to the challenge \u2014 and he\u2019s already working to continue helping fellow amputee veterans through his lifelong passion for the game of soccer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no difference between normal soccer and amputee soccer, basically,\u201d explained Maes. The flow and pace of the adaptive version of the game are identical to the traditional game, except all the field players utilize forearm crutches and goalkeepers are required to only have one able arm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is honestly one of the hardest sports I\u2019ve ever played,\u201d he noted. \u201cLove it to death, but it is so brutal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adaptive soccer made a big difference in his recovery process, Maes said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He credited the sport with helping him address his post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms that have followed him since the accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was honesty starting to struggle, mentally, after the wreck,\u201d he said. \u201cI needed something to get back [to being] physical \u2014 that was always something in the Army I could rely on, but as soon as I lost that, I started to struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Retired Sgt. Ezra Maes wants to help fellow amputee veterans to find an outlet through adaptive soccer. (Courtesy of Ezra Maes)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While still in San Antonio, Maes volunteered to coach a team in a fledgling amputee soccer league. While the pandemic thwarted those plans and interrupted the league, Maes plans to pick up where he left off at his new home in Denver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy whole goal is to actually start an amputee soccer team [in Denver],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s an ambitious goal, but Maes knows the impact that it could have on his fellow veterans and other amputees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re targeting to young, athletic guys in my situation,\u201d Maes said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of guys in my situation that are hidden. And it\u2019s just a matter of finding them and getting them motivated enough to come out to this kind of stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maes dreams of someday trying out and joining the U.S. men\u2019s national team for adaptive soccer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond soccer, Maes is planning to enroll in college soon, though he\u2019s not sure when he\u2019ll dive into the next phase of his professional life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked what he wants Army Times readers to know about his story, Maes took a couple minutes to answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne thing that really upset me through the first round of interviews is nobody ever really focused on the other members of my crew,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re really great people, and I was honored to work with them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crump went on to become one of the service\u2019s first women to command a tank, Maes said, and his driver, Victor Alamo, left the military due to his injuries in the crash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey saved my life. If it wasn\u2019t for these guys, I wouldn\u2019t be around today, and my whole family feels that way,\u201d said Maes. \u201cNot enough people ever really get to hear that side of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A portrait in grit and self-sacrifice, retired Army Sgt. Ezra Maes did the unthinkable in order to try to help a teammate: He amputated his own leg after a tank accident.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":86078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":70,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news","military-honor"],"primary_category":"your-military"}}},"categories":[100,23,92,10,12,25,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3376],"class_list":["post-48156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-left-column","category-military-honor","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"YE3HJDMINRDIXJVVVMGYJX5UCQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2021\/08\/25\/this-soldier-amputated-his-own-leg-to-help-his-crew-during-a-tank-crash\/","remove_feature_photo":true,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\nSoldier of the Year 2021 amputated his own leg to help his crew during a tank crash - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A portrait in grit and self-sacrifice, retired Army Sgt. 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