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Interview With Jeff Georgia, Hector Delgado
Aired August 11, 2003 - 15:39 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Nearly every day we seem to report that another American soldier has given his life in Iraq. Well, today we have the inspirational story of a life that was saved. The heroes of this miracle are a U.S. Marine who was gravely injured and a U.S. Navy doctor who just wouldn't let that Marine die.
I first met Dr. Jeff Georgia aboard the USNS Comfort in the Persian Gulf just prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom. He showed me his floating hospital, his new surgical radiology equipment and told me how he was prepared to save any life during the war, American or Iraqi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. JEFF GEORGIA, M.D., U.S. NAVY: By allowing us to go in first and do the angiography, find the bleeding artery and put a coil in it to stop the bleeding, then we can stabilize him, get him to surgery, get the blood out. And patients that previously would die presumably now can be saved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well Captain Georgia's equipment was used throughout the war. But one of the most memorable procedures was on April 14. Our story continues now with Marine Corporal Hector Delgado and Navy Captain Jeff Georgia. Gentlemen, what a pleasure to have you with us.
GEORGIA: Hey, Kyra, it's good to see you again.
CPL. HECTOR DELGADO, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Pleasure to be here.
PHILLIPS: Oh, it's great to have you.
Hector, let's begin with you. Can you take us back to April 14 and tell us briefly what happened?
DELGADO: Well, what exactly happened was we came off a security run outside Nasiriya. And we stopped at a place called Camp Viper, and we were just hanging out there, getting some, you know, R and R, so to say. And only half the security team went out, and we stayed -- had the other half stay back.
And everyone was sitting between the fuel tankers to get out of the sun. And it just so happened the one I was sitting in between, the landing legs kicked out and it rolled over on me. It killed my buddy, Corporal Ariel Gonzalez and injured another one of my friends from my company, Corporal Rep (ph).
PHILLIPS: So, Hector, you were actually -- the tank was pinning you to the ground, is that right?
DELGADO: Yes, that's correct. I felt the metal hit my back, and I jumped up. And when I jumped up, it, like, hit the back of my pelvis and it just slammed me right down into the sand.
PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh.
And, Dr. Georgia, what do you remember from casual receiving? Hector airborne to your hospital there, the Comfort ship. What do you remember from that day?
GEORGIA: Well, Kyra, the first thing I remember was when they brought Hector in off the helicopter, we had to get special permission to fly him in at night. And it was pretty hectic in the casualty receiving area when he arrived. But luckily we had the whole team there and Hector was the only patient arriving at that time. So we had the whole team assembled.
And I can't stress enough how important it was, the teamwork that was brought together to take care of the corporal on this mission and on all the other people that were brought in. We had everybody from the people who -- the corpsmen and nurses that took care of him in the field hospital to the doctors there, the people that flew the helicopter, the people in the blood bank who got him the blood. We had he had over 20 units of blood by the time he got to us.
So he was looking a lot different than he does now. He was swollen with fluids, because they were trying to resuscitate him, but the bleeding wouldn't stop. So we suggested that we take him right into the angiography suite where we could try to stop his bleeding internally using catheters and coils.
PHILLIPS: Hector, do you remember anything from the Helo to the ship?
DELGADO: Not a thing. The last thing I remember is getting lifted up in the MediVac Helo, and I don't remember anything after that.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Did you think you were going to make it?
DELGADO: I thought I was paralyzed at first. But I woke up in Bethesda, Maryland at the Naval hospital, and I asked them if I just got there, and they said no, you've been here for two weeks. So I was heavily sedated between narcotics and sedatives and everything like that.
PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh. So for those two works aboard the Comfort in the Persian Gulf, Jeff, what were you saying as hector's doctor every day to him? Were you telling him, You've got to survive, hold on? GEORGIA: Well, it's a nice relationship that we have with our patients because I outrank Hector substantially, so I could walk into him every day in the intensive unit after we performed his procedure to stop the bleeding. And while he was in the intensive care unit on the ventilator, I would walk in every day, and I would -- he was partially conscious, although he doesn't remember, he was pretty heavily sedated.
But he would wake up enough to be able to move his limbs. And he would be feeling for the tube that was helping him breathe and he was feeling for the devices that were keeping his pelvis stabilized. And we would go through them everyday, and I'd say, Now this is what's helping you breathe and this is what's helping you get fluid and food and this is what's helping keep your pelvis together, and he would nod.
And I would Say, Now, you're not going to touch any of this stuff, you're not going to pull these tubes out, are you, Hector? And he'd shake his head no. And I'd say, OK, Corporal, now, your job is to get better. And he'd nod.
So it's nice when you can order your patients to survive and when they're Marines, they usually obey orders.
(LAUGHTER)
GEORGIA: So he did great.
PHILLIPS: Hector, that was very smart. You don't remember any of that, do you, Hector?
DELGADO: No, ma'am, not at all.
PHILLIPS: So tell me, then, about the first time that Dr. Jeff Georgia walked into your room there in Bethesda. You didn't remember anything, the two weeks you were on the Comfort. When he walked into that room, tell me about that moment.
DELGADO: I'll be perfectly honest with you. I broke down in tears. I was so happy to see him. I shook his hand. And I can't thank him enough. As a matter of fact, I got invited to a Yankee game, and Captain Georgia wanted me to come -- wants to see the Yankees play the Boston Red Sox. So I think he deserves a ticket.
PHILLIPS: And what did you say to him, Jeff, when you walked in that room and saw him, alert for the very first time?
GEORGIA: That was a very emotional meeting, Kyra. I walked in, I was on leave. That was the day after I got back after floating back on the Comfort. And I walked in civilian clothes. Hector was the first person I wanted to see when I got back. And there was a nurse in taking his blood pressure. And I walked in and I said, Good morning, Corporal.
And he said, Who are you, sir? And I said, I'm Dr. Georgia. And he said -- well, he told you what he did and so then of course I immediately burst into tears. And then the nurse is looking back and forth between the two of us and we're sobbing to each other, and she was kind of confused by things.
But it was a very emotional and good meeting. And when he said he was going to invite me to a Yankees game, I said, That's OK as long as it's against the Red Sox because I'm from New Hampshire and Red Sox are my team. So I'm looking forward to joining him for a Red Sox game.
PHILLIPS: I know what's next for both of you, besides that Red Sox game. And, Hector, I know you're continuing to go through rehabilitation. What's your plan?
DELGADO: Well, when I -- I was supposed to be out of the Marine Corps April 28, and the stop list came out and I got sent over to Iraq. And I was supposed to start the at New York City Police Department Academy on July 1. So now I have to pursue a different career. I don't know what, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.
PHILLIPS: Well, you have quite a strong heart and incredibly brave soul. Corporal Hector Delgado and captain Jeff Georgia, M.D. We salute you both. It was so wonderful to tell your story today.
GEORGIA: Thank you very much, Kyra. Can I say one more thing about these folks?
PHILLIPS: Yes, Jeff.
GEORGIA: These guys are real heroes. And I think it's important for us all to remember that when they get back home and they're looking pretty well, that they've been through a lot, and we need to support them, and we need to take care of them.
And after the ticker tape parades and Purple Hearts are finished, we need to be there with them. We need to be with them and help them through their next phase of life because it's going to be difficult for them.
PHILLIPS: Well, Hector, we expect a follow-up. You tell us what your plans are and what you're doing, all right?
DELGADO: Yes, I definitely will. But everyone has been very supportive, and I've had a lot of people come up to visit me, a lot of strangers, I've gotten cards from all over the United States. And, you know, I just -- I want people to know that the sacrifice that we make just by signing up, because anything can happen. You know, this was pretty much a freak accident. You know, just by going over there is a sacrifice.
PHILLIPS: Well, we're very lucky that you survived to tell us your story.
GEORGIA: Thanks for your service, corporal.
DELGADO: Oh, thank you, sir.
PHILLIPS: Thank you, gentlemen.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 11, 2003 - 15:39 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Nearly every day we seem to report that another American soldier has given his life in Iraq. Well, today we have the inspirational story of a life that was saved. The heroes of this miracle are a U.S. Marine who was gravely injured and a U.S. Navy doctor who just wouldn't let that Marine die.
I first met Dr. Jeff Georgia aboard the USNS Comfort in the Persian Gulf just prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom. He showed me his floating hospital, his new surgical radiology equipment and told me how he was prepared to save any life during the war, American or Iraqi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. JEFF GEORGIA, M.D., U.S. NAVY: By allowing us to go in first and do the angiography, find the bleeding artery and put a coil in it to stop the bleeding, then we can stabilize him, get him to surgery, get the blood out. And patients that previously would die presumably now can be saved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well Captain Georgia's equipment was used throughout the war. But one of the most memorable procedures was on April 14. Our story continues now with Marine Corporal Hector Delgado and Navy Captain Jeff Georgia. Gentlemen, what a pleasure to have you with us.
GEORGIA: Hey, Kyra, it's good to see you again.
CPL. HECTOR DELGADO, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Pleasure to be here.
PHILLIPS: Oh, it's great to have you.
Hector, let's begin with you. Can you take us back to April 14 and tell us briefly what happened?
DELGADO: Well, what exactly happened was we came off a security run outside Nasiriya. And we stopped at a place called Camp Viper, and we were just hanging out there, getting some, you know, R and R, so to say. And only half the security team went out, and we stayed -- had the other half stay back.
And everyone was sitting between the fuel tankers to get out of the sun. And it just so happened the one I was sitting in between, the landing legs kicked out and it rolled over on me. It killed my buddy, Corporal Ariel Gonzalez and injured another one of my friends from my company, Corporal Rep (ph).
PHILLIPS: So, Hector, you were actually -- the tank was pinning you to the ground, is that right?
DELGADO: Yes, that's correct. I felt the metal hit my back, and I jumped up. And when I jumped up, it, like, hit the back of my pelvis and it just slammed me right down into the sand.
PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh.
And, Dr. Georgia, what do you remember from casual receiving? Hector airborne to your hospital there, the Comfort ship. What do you remember from that day?
GEORGIA: Well, Kyra, the first thing I remember was when they brought Hector in off the helicopter, we had to get special permission to fly him in at night. And it was pretty hectic in the casualty receiving area when he arrived. But luckily we had the whole team there and Hector was the only patient arriving at that time. So we had the whole team assembled.
And I can't stress enough how important it was, the teamwork that was brought together to take care of the corporal on this mission and on all the other people that were brought in. We had everybody from the people who -- the corpsmen and nurses that took care of him in the field hospital to the doctors there, the people that flew the helicopter, the people in the blood bank who got him the blood. We had he had over 20 units of blood by the time he got to us.
So he was looking a lot different than he does now. He was swollen with fluids, because they were trying to resuscitate him, but the bleeding wouldn't stop. So we suggested that we take him right into the angiography suite where we could try to stop his bleeding internally using catheters and coils.
PHILLIPS: Hector, do you remember anything from the Helo to the ship?
DELGADO: Not a thing. The last thing I remember is getting lifted up in the MediVac Helo, and I don't remember anything after that.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Did you think you were going to make it?
DELGADO: I thought I was paralyzed at first. But I woke up in Bethesda, Maryland at the Naval hospital, and I asked them if I just got there, and they said no, you've been here for two weeks. So I was heavily sedated between narcotics and sedatives and everything like that.
PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh. So for those two works aboard the Comfort in the Persian Gulf, Jeff, what were you saying as hector's doctor every day to him? Were you telling him, You've got to survive, hold on? GEORGIA: Well, it's a nice relationship that we have with our patients because I outrank Hector substantially, so I could walk into him every day in the intensive unit after we performed his procedure to stop the bleeding. And while he was in the intensive care unit on the ventilator, I would walk in every day, and I would -- he was partially conscious, although he doesn't remember, he was pretty heavily sedated.
But he would wake up enough to be able to move his limbs. And he would be feeling for the tube that was helping him breathe and he was feeling for the devices that were keeping his pelvis stabilized. And we would go through them everyday, and I'd say, Now this is what's helping you breathe and this is what's helping you get fluid and food and this is what's helping keep your pelvis together, and he would nod.
And I would Say, Now, you're not going to touch any of this stuff, you're not going to pull these tubes out, are you, Hector? And he'd shake his head no. And I'd say, OK, Corporal, now, your job is to get better. And he'd nod.
So it's nice when you can order your patients to survive and when they're Marines, they usually obey orders.
(LAUGHTER)
GEORGIA: So he did great.
PHILLIPS: Hector, that was very smart. You don't remember any of that, do you, Hector?
DELGADO: No, ma'am, not at all.
PHILLIPS: So tell me, then, about the first time that Dr. Jeff Georgia walked into your room there in Bethesda. You didn't remember anything, the two weeks you were on the Comfort. When he walked into that room, tell me about that moment.
DELGADO: I'll be perfectly honest with you. I broke down in tears. I was so happy to see him. I shook his hand. And I can't thank him enough. As a matter of fact, I got invited to a Yankee game, and Captain Georgia wanted me to come -- wants to see the Yankees play the Boston Red Sox. So I think he deserves a ticket.
PHILLIPS: And what did you say to him, Jeff, when you walked in that room and saw him, alert for the very first time?
GEORGIA: That was a very emotional meeting, Kyra. I walked in, I was on leave. That was the day after I got back after floating back on the Comfort. And I walked in civilian clothes. Hector was the first person I wanted to see when I got back. And there was a nurse in taking his blood pressure. And I walked in and I said, Good morning, Corporal.
And he said, Who are you, sir? And I said, I'm Dr. Georgia. And he said -- well, he told you what he did and so then of course I immediately burst into tears. And then the nurse is looking back and forth between the two of us and we're sobbing to each other, and she was kind of confused by things.
But it was a very emotional and good meeting. And when he said he was going to invite me to a Yankees game, I said, That's OK as long as it's against the Red Sox because I'm from New Hampshire and Red Sox are my team. So I'm looking forward to joining him for a Red Sox game.
PHILLIPS: I know what's next for both of you, besides that Red Sox game. And, Hector, I know you're continuing to go through rehabilitation. What's your plan?
DELGADO: Well, when I -- I was supposed to be out of the Marine Corps April 28, and the stop list came out and I got sent over to Iraq. And I was supposed to start the at New York City Police Department Academy on July 1. So now I have to pursue a different career. I don't know what, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.
PHILLIPS: Well, you have quite a strong heart and incredibly brave soul. Corporal Hector Delgado and captain Jeff Georgia, M.D. We salute you both. It was so wonderful to tell your story today.
GEORGIA: Thank you very much, Kyra. Can I say one more thing about these folks?
PHILLIPS: Yes, Jeff.
GEORGIA: These guys are real heroes. And I think it's important for us all to remember that when they get back home and they're looking pretty well, that they've been through a lot, and we need to support them, and we need to take care of them.
And after the ticker tape parades and Purple Hearts are finished, we need to be there with them. We need to be with them and help them through their next phase of life because it's going to be difficult for them.
PHILLIPS: Well, Hector, we expect a follow-up. You tell us what your plans are and what you're doing, all right?
DELGADO: Yes, I definitely will. But everyone has been very supportive, and I've had a lot of people come up to visit me, a lot of strangers, I've gotten cards from all over the United States. And, you know, I just -- I want people to know that the sacrifice that we make just by signing up, because anything can happen. You know, this was pretty much a freak accident. You know, just by going over there is a sacrifice.
PHILLIPS: Well, we're very lucky that you survived to tell us your story.
GEORGIA: Thanks for your service, corporal.
DELGADO: Oh, thank you, sir.
PHILLIPS: Thank you, gentlemen.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
