CORWYN COLLIER’S heart stopped beating on May 23, 2009, while he was serving in Iraq as a military police officer. On patrol by truck, Collier’s team drove over a bomb that exploded underneath him. The blast pinned his right leg between the door and the dashboard, severing an artery. He looked at his right hand and saw nothing but mangled flesh. Blood was gushing out of different wounds, and soldiers rushed to stop the bleeding. He was evacuated by helicopter to a combat support hospital, but because of the massive blood loss he went into cardiac arrest.
The medics fired up … no heartbeat. They fired it up again … … no heartbeat. His dream at age 27 of raising his sons into old age was fading. The defibrillator fired up … … Collier’s heart started beating again. His injuries were so serious that he had to spend ten months in the hospital.
