U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Wesley Smith went to the beach this summer for a little R&R. It proved to be something closer to hazard duty after a strong wave sent him crashing to the ocean floor, wrenching his neck and causing a rare trauma-induced stroke.

Fortunately for Smith, he was just a few miles from Health First’s Holmes Regional Medical Center, the area’s only Level II Trauma Center and Joint Commission-certified Thrombectomy-capable Stroke Center.

The Airman recently told his story to Florida Today and WESH 2 News.

 

Just as he was being brought to the hospital, he reached for an EMT member and ask for help and realized he lost the ability to speak or move his arm.

“Exactly as I was (trying to ask for help), is when the doors opened for them to pull me out and go into the trauma room,” he said.

As the team worked to get him help, Smith remained aware of his surroundings, he said.

“I could still hear, see, smell, taste, everything – I could think and have normal thoughts, but just couldn’t … I was stuck in the position that I was in when I was trying to ask that [EMT] for help, except my arm fell down.”

READ the full story in Florida Today here.