May 25, 2007 8:53 am US/Mountain
Colorado Soldier Returns Home, Faces Long Recovery
by Jim Benemann
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (CBS4) ―
A Soldier from Fort Carson returned home to Colorado Thursday and received a hero's welcome at Centennial Airport months after he was nearly killed by a sniper in Iraq. Staff Sgt. Matthew Keil has spent the time since that day in February recovering and trying to breathe on his own at military hospitals in Washington, D.C. and Florida.
The bullet from a sniper's rifle pierced Keil's neck and severely damaged his spinal cord on Feb. 24. His wife fought to bring him back to Colorado so he could undergo rehabilitation at the world famous Craig Hospital.
Paramedics slowly carried Keil off a plane in a hangar at Centennial Thursday while family, friends and complete strangers gathered to welcome him and offer support. First Lady Jeannie Ritter was among the nearly 100 people there to offer their thanks for his service, many waving American flags.
"Why did this happen to us?" asked Lyne Wyatt, Keil's mother-in-law. "That was never said to me. Matt has always said 'it is what it is.' Let's move on. But never ever had a day of pity. Never."
Keil and his wife Tracy had been married 43 days when he was wounded in Iraq. She has been by his side in hospital rooms on the East Coast since then.
"Cause I love him," Tracy said. "I would do anything for him and he came home and he kept his promise and that's all I asked him to do is come home and he did."
Keil is diagnosed as a quadriplegic. His family said he's moved his fingers and they have high hopes as he starts rehabilitation at Craig Hospital.
Additional Resources
- To make donations, make checks payable to "Matthew Keil Supplemental Care Trust" and send to: Members Trust Company, Western Division, 6875 E. Evans Ave., #200, Denver, CO 80224
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