SSG Kelly Keck

Harvre de Grace, MD

Army Medic, SSG Kelly Keck was on his first deployment to Afghanistan when he lost his right leg and suffered severe hand injuries after stepping on an anti-personnel mine on September 13, 2008. The medic for an engineer platoon, SSG Keck was riding on a regular mounted patrol when the lead vehicle ran over a pressure plated mine. While assisting the injured, SSG Keck stepped on the buried mine; the force of the blast throwing him into the air and knocking him unconscious. Regaining consciousness and doing an initial injury assessment on himself, SSG Keck realized immediately that his right foot and lower leg had been amputated. He quickly learned that he could not stop the bleeding himself as he had also suffered the amputations of fingers and severe injuries to his left hand. Though seriously injured, SSG Keck helped save his own life by instructing his platoon sergeant in the first aid treatment of his wounds. Transported first to the local hospital, amputation surgeries were performed in Afghanistan before SSG Keck was airlifted to Landstuhl, Germany and then to Walter Reed Army Medical Center where he remains at this time.