An Army veteran received a homecoming to remember on Wednesday, returning to his York County home escorted by motorcade. Army Cpl. Matthew Hanes was severely wounded in Afghanistan and has just completed seven months of rehabilitation at the Va Hospital in Tampa, Florida, which has a special unit for spinal injuries.
Matthew Hanes touched down at BWI around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The Warrior Brotherhood, Guardian Knights, Patriot Riders, and various police all helped to escort Matthew Hanes Home.
Matthew Hanes was wounded on June 23rd on a mission north of Kandahar, Afghanistan.“He was shot in the neck, it came out his right shoulder, which shattered his vertebrae one and two and his spinal cord. So he is paralyzed from the chest down,” said Matthew’s mother Chris Hanes. “This was supposed to be his last mission before returning home,” his father Lee Hanes said.
Hanes, a 2010 Northeastern High School graduate, is paralyzed from the chest down, as a result of his injury. He can move his neck and arms and has partial use of his hands.
His father Lee Hanes and dozens of contractors and community members helped build an addition onto their home on Canal Road in East Manchester Township. The addition will help Matthew live as independently as possible and will also help his parents take care of him.
Matthew’s uncle, Jim Staley, owner of Jim Staley Building and Remodeling is helping with the project, “The original garage is being turned into an efficiency apartment for him which will be all wheelchair accessible, and the bathroom will be wheelchair accessible. The new garage just put on is just set up for his handicap van. There will be an elevator going to the basement where the Army has donated some exercise equipment. There will be a sling system above his bed to get him in and out of bed.”
To raise money for Matthew’s continued care a fundraiser will be held Saturday April 20, starting at Goofy’s in Spring Grove at 11 a.m.
A golf outing will be held May 8th at Briarwood Golf Course East and West in York County. Registration begins at 9 a.m.
