BUCKSPORT, Maine — The community is beginning to rally around a former Bucksport man who was seriously injured last week in a military training accident, his brother said Monday night.
Cpl. Mathew Swazey, 21, was one of 18 Marines who were seriously injured in a training accident at the U.S. Marine Corps’ Camp Pendleton near San Diego, California, according to Stars and Stripes.
One Marine was killed in the crash.
“They were sitting in the back of this 7-ton troop transport vehicle, and it ended rolling over, and Mat was in the back, and they all kind of fell on him,” Swazey’s older brother, Cody Holyoke, said Monday night.
Holyoke said Swazey is listed in serious but stable condition in a San Diego-area hospital, where he is being treated for injuries that include broken shoulder bones, a broken clavicle, a broken femur and hip and vertebrae fractures.
“So he’s got kind of a long row to hoe,” Holyoke said.
Holyoke, who works in television news in New York, said that more than 100 messages wishing Swazey a full recovery have poured in so far.
The Marine’s parents, Cyndi and Peter Swazey, flew out to California to be with him as soon as they learned of the accident, Holyoke said. He said his other brother, Jason Swazey, who is in the Navy, also is at Mat’s bedside.
“We don’t know how long Mat’s recovery is going to take,” Holyoke said Monday.
To that end, he has created a gofundme page to raise funds for Swazey and his family members. As of Monday night, nearly $1,600 had been raised to assist Swazey and his family.
“Also, our family lives in the Northeast — nowhere near his hospital, and we’d like to be able to have someone stay with him during his long recovery,” Holyoke said. “Our mom is a nurse and has to fly back to Maine soon so she can keep bringing in a paycheck for the family.”
Anyone who wants to help the Swazey family can make donations at gofundme.com/matmarine.