A Bronx Marine Cpl. Winder Perez, 23 is making a miracle recovery after an unexploded rocket-propelled grenade was fired into his leg in Afghanistan.
Cpl. Perez was fighting the Taliban in January, 2012 outside the town of Musa Qala when he was struck by the 14-inch, football-shaped grenade.
Perez leg went numb and he collapsed upon impact.
His fellow Marines came to the rescue, pulling him off the battlefield and to safety where a helicopter evacuated him to a nearby clinic.
Risking their own lives, a medic, Navy trauma surgeon James Gennari, and explosives expert in Afghanistan pulled the live RPG out of the Marine’s body by hand.
From there, Perez was taken to a military hospital in Germany.
Doctors worried Perez could lose his leg, but he is making a surprising recovery and walking with a cane.
Perez grew up in the area of E. 164th Street and Gerard Avenue in Bronx.
The CNN footage follows:
