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By Irene Loewenson<\/strong><\/p>\n When then-Sgt. Brett Meil saw one of his students inadvertently activate a grenade during Marine infantry training in June 2023, he yelled at him to toss the grenade into the target area.<\/p>\n But the student froze with fear. In between three seconds and five seconds, the grenade would have exploded in the young Marine\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n Meil yanked the student out of the training pit and swatted the grenade out of his hand. Unfortunately, it bounced off a wall and landed near the two of them.<\/p>\n So Meil covered the student with his body and prepared to die. He was sad for his wife, whom he had married 11 days prior.<\/p>\n Meil, 26, who survived the blast with extensive injuries, said in an interview with Marine Corps Times he acted out of a sense of obligation to his students. He had 20 pieces of shrapnel throughout his body, including two in his nostrils, and a severe traumatic brain injury, he said. It should have taken him about a year to recover.<\/p>\n But with support from his wife and his leaders, and with an array of therapies, Meil was back training infantry students within six months.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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\nMeil said the care he received at the civilian hospital was so lacking \u2014 for instance, providers refused him pain meds \u2014 that he left after four hours, and ended up embarking on his recovery on his own couch.<\/p>\n