GAETA – He risked serious injury by falling from a scaffolding, but ends by “only” piercing through his gluteus.  What happened the other night in Gaeta sounds almost incredible.  Carabinieri, the 118  rescue team members, as well as the fire fighters –squad 5A coordinated by Giovanni Baldi – found themselves facing a grotesque scene.  An American military member was literally hanging on the fence, pierced through one of his gluteus. 

It is difficult to determine the exact dynamic of what happened to Second Class Gregory Rid Bowman, the name of the 28 year old man who ran through this mishap, coming from Virginia and stationed on USS Mount Whitney, homeported in Gaeta.  It was shortly after 4 a.m. when the young sailor, maybe a little tipsy, decided to demonstrate his strength by climbing on the scaffolding that had been erected in Via Bachelet for repairs.  At this point, probably due to the loss of balance, he fell and, it must be said, remained stuck by his gluteus to the fence. 

This reconstruction of the accident is based on what the rescue members could determine at the scene.  It appears that the young man was alone at the time of the accident, therefore it becomes difficult to understand in front of whom he wanted to show off his ability.  He has certainly been lucky, a few centimeters one way or the other and there is no telling how it could have ended.  The spike of the fence, in fact, could have become stuck elsewhere, damaging vital organs. 

The maneuver to free the young man, whose gluteus was pierced from side to side by the metal, was complicated as well.  After freeing him, he was taken to the emergency room of Di Liegro hospital in Gaeta. 

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