Trey Troney

            Sgt. Trey Troney is my VIP for this week. I came across a fairly short article that tells of a life-saving act recently performed by the 20-year-old non-commissioned officer from Fort Bliss, Texas. The article says that Troney was taking a holiday trip to Raleigh, Mississippi, when he happened upon an accident in Sweetwater, Texas.

            Troney saw a wrecked on the side of the highway with Jeff Udger “slumped over the steering wheel.” With the help of two other Good Samaritans, Troney was able to pry open the driver’s door. Troney immediately recognized that Udger was in trouble with a bleeding head wound. Without thinking much about it, he wrapped his brand new sweatshirt around Udger’s head to stop the bleeding.

            Udger was still conscious at that point, but Troney saw that Udger chest was not moving on the left side, meaning that a lung had collapsed. Troney had recently been to some training at Fort Irwin, California, and had an idea of what was needed. He ran to his Jeep and found a Needle Chest Compression (NCD) and an Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK) and raced back to Udger. He could not reach the lung because the needle was too small, so he used an old ballpoint pen as a handle. He somehow was able to get the pen with the needle between the man’s ribs and was rewarded by the bubbles that came out the tip. Udger was unconscious by this time and might not have felt too much pain.

            A state trooper witnessed the make-shift operation, and an ambulance came about ten minutes later. “The paramedics believe Troney saved Udger’s life.” Udger is grateful and started “contacting government officials, the media and Troney’s chain of command – all the way up to his brigade commander, Col. Michael Trotter – and telling them how thankful he is for Troney’s actions.” Since Troney also gave Udger his email address, the two have been in contact.