Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Lieberknecht | 190123-N-AO823-227 PENSACOLA, Fla. (Jan. 23, 2019) — Hospital Corpsman 1st Class...... read more read more
PENSACOLA, Fla. (Jan. 23, 2019) — A Naval Survival Training Institute (NSTI) leading training petty officer was awarded a Purple Heart today for wounds received in action on Oct. 21, 2009 in Afghanistan.
Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Eduardo Sanchez-Padilla was presented the award by Rear Adm. Tina Davidson, commander, Navy Medicine Education, Training and Logistics Command (NMETLC) and the Navy’s Nurse Corps director, during a ceremony at the National Naval Aviation Museum on Naval Air Station Pensacola.
“This is a momentous occasion,” Davidson said to those attending the awards ceremony. “Thank you all for being here to witness this, and it has been an honor to present this award.”
Sanchez-Padilla was wounded while on deployment in Afghanistan as the platoon corpsman for 2nd Platoon, Route Clearance Company, 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division in 2009.
“We were performing a foot-patrol maneuver during a route clearance operation from Forward Operating Base (FOB) Camp Dwyer to FOB Camp Delhi,” said Sanchez-Padilla.
He said he remembers helping his unit clear the path when he looked off to a nearby canal to check for suspicious activity. That’s when it happened. An IED buried in the ground of an unpaved road exploded about three meters away from Sanchez-Padilla.
“I was the only corpsman on-scene, so I performed a rapid self-assessment and continued to quickly provide medical care for two more people who also got hit by the IED,” said Sanchez-Padilla.
Later that evening, Sanchez-Padilla was diagnosed with a 2nd degree concussion and placed on light duty for a week.
In 2009 DOD policy did not include concussion injuries as qualifying for a Purple Heart. The stipulations changed, however, in 2011 when a policy declared inclusion of “moderate or severe/penetrating traumatic brain injuries.”
After his time in Afghanistan, Sanchez-Padilla went on to various commands, eventually landing at Naval Mobile Construction Battalion One Thirty-Three. He was sent to Africa, Ukraine and other places around the world on humanitarian and international partnership missions designed to make the world a better place, where he continued life-saving work.
It was during a mission in the Republic of Marshall Islands where Sanchez-Padilla saved a child’s life. He and his unit were helping re-build a local police station when a group of children ran toward them across an open field. The children were pleading for help and led Sanchez-Padilla to a young boy who was drowning nearby.
“He was gasping for air, and we were able to stabilize him and medivac him to a nearby island to get more help,” Sanchez-Padilla described.
Sanchez-Padilla said more than anything, he is just glad that his injury in 2009 was not more serious and allowed him to continue his Navy career.
“There is such a positive aspect about second chances,” said Sanchez-Padilla. “I was able to go to those places and help people and improve their lives.”
NSTI is a detachment of Navy Medicine Operational Training Center (NMOTC), whose mission is to provide operational medical and aviation survival training. NMOTC is part of the network of Navy medicine professionals who support Sailors and Marines worldwide, providing critical mission support aboard ships, in the air, under the sea, and on the battlefield.
| Date Taken: | 01.23.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 01.24.2019 17:17 |
| Story ID: | 308157 |
| Location: | PENSACOLA, FL, US |
| Web Views: | 252 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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