Prosthetics Falls Off Boy on Race, Marine Carries the Boy
Ben Baltz, 11, a bone cancer survivor, was running in a Florida children’s triathlon when he noticed something was wrong with his prosthetic leg. Unable to fix it, he was helped across the finish line by a Marine who wanted to make sure the boy finished the race.
WHP-TV
With an all-Marine escort, 11-year-old Ben Baltz is carried across the finish
line on the back of Pfc. Matthew Morgan, 19, of San Diego.
An 11-year-old boy whose prosthetic leg fell off during a Florida children’s triathlon was carried across the finish line by a heroic Marine.
Ben Baltz, a bone cancer survivor, noticed something was wrong with his prosthetic leg during the final run portion of the race in Pensacola.
“It (the leg) wobbles,” Ben told WHP-TV.
A screw came out of the leg and Ben went down.
Unable to fix it himself, a U.S. Marine volunteering at the event asked if he could help.
“I saw Ben fall to the ground,” Pfc. Matthew Morgan, 19, of San Diego, told the Marine Corps Times.
“I made it there first and he had already regained his composure and was trying to fix his leg. I asked if he needed help and he said, ‘No, I just want to finish the race.’”
WHP-TV
With just a half mile to go, Pfc. Matthew Morgan put Ben Baltz on his back
and completed the triathlon after Baltz’s prosthetic leg fell off. The Marine
wanted to make sure the boy finished the race.
So Morgan put Ben on his back and completed the last half mile of the run, surrounded by other Marines.
As the pair crossed the finish line, a touched crowd applauded wildly.
Ben, whose leg was amputated when he was 6-years-old, was competing in his third triathlon of the summer.
“As far as I’m concerned, he finished that race,” Morgan said. “As long as he knows he could’ve finished it and wanted to finish it, that’s all that matters.”
Morgan’s commanding officer, Capt. Frank Anderson, wasn’t at all surprised Morgan did such a heroic thing.
“We are selfless as an institution in the Marine Corps,” Anderson said. “Putting others before ourselves is second nature.”
He also said the Marines never leave anyone behind.
vcavaliere@nydailynews.com
Comments