MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. -- “I was about to show him the gas chamber, I heard him say ‘I’m going to-,’ and I looked back, and he was face down in the grass on the side of the road,” said VanDuyne.
VanDuyne assessed the situation, discovered he had no pulse, and immediately began performing CPR. VanDuyne signaled a bystander to call 911.
“A lot of adrenaline was going, but there really wasn’t much time to think,” said VanDuyne. “He’s down on the ground, and I didn’t really feel a pulse, so I just started CPR.”
The Parris Island Fire Department quickly arrived on scene and took Mataro to the nearest hospital.
Mataro was in a comatose state for three days before awakening in the hospital. He had suffered from a heart attack in his left anterior descending artery, known as a ‘Widowmaker Heart Attack,’ which has an extremely low chance of survival.
As a Marine Corps Instructor of Water Survival, VanDuyne learned advanced CPR, life saving procedures, and earned a Red Cross certification.
For his actions, VanDuyne received the Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medal on July 18, 2024. Mataro arrived at the ceremony in the current U.S. Marine Corps combat utility uniform to pin the medal on VanDuyne himself.
“Do I think I deserve an award?” asked VanDuyne. “I think my award is more or less being able to talk to him and break bread with him and have lunch with him. I think that’s enough.”
Mataro said getting to pin VanDuyne meant a lot to him.
“I couldn’t pay him enough,” said Mataro. “I will always be on the short end of the stick of what I unofficially owe him. Pinning that medal on that young man’s chest was one of the greatest honors I’ve had besides serving as a Marine.”
Following the incident, Mataro started a position at the Parris Island Marine Museum, allowing him to grow his friendship with VanDuyne.
“My wife and I have adopted him unofficially as our son. He and I are connected now,” said Mataro. “Afterall, I have to finish that ride with him.”
(U.S. Marine Corps story by Lance Cpl. Ayden Cassano)