GRAVES COUNTY (WSIL) -- The Graves County Sheriff's Office is recognizing a man, who went above and beyond on the night of the tornadoes.
Marco Sanchez, an inmate at the Graves County RC Center, was on work details at the candle factory on December 10.
It was later learned that Sanchez was inside the factory when it collapsed. He was trapped and suffered a broken leg and cracked ribs. He managed to find a small void in the rubble and was able to crawl out to safety.
After freeing himself, with his injuries, he went and found tools, and returned to the site. He re-entered the rubble and rendered aid to those injured and freed several others.
At some point afterwards, he along with several other injured people caught a ride with a volunteer firefighter to the emergency room. After several hours of receiving treatment for his injuries and a leg cast, he was released from the hospital.
Sanchez happened to see a state trooper at the hospital. He went up to the trooper and told him that he was an inmate and needed to turn himself in. The trooper told him that with everything going on, that he was not in a position to help him at that moment, and to do the right thing.
Sanchez found a shuttle bus that took him to a shelter that had been put in place, after he learned that the jail had been destroyed. Once arriving at the shelter, he was put in contact with jail staff whom at that time took him back into custody.
The Graves County Sheriff's Office made the sentencing judge, McCracken Circuit Judge Tim Kaltenbach, aware of Sanchez's actions and a hearing took place last week in court.
During the hearing, the Judge determined that Mr. Sanchez only had 14 days to serve remaining on his sentence. Instead of receiving a shock probation on his sentence, Mr. Sanchez chose to complete his sentence, and is scheduled for release on March 01, 2022.
The Sheriff's Office said, "Mr. Sanchez had a lot of decisions to make that night. He could have made the decision to only save himself, but he didn’t. His actions likely resulted in other lives being saved. The series of decisions he made over the next several hours were the right decisions and we applaud you for that sir."
He received the Sheriff's Meritorious Award on Tuesday for his actions on December 10.
The Sheriff's office is hoping someone will help him start a new life, by providing housing or a job opportunity. Monetary donations are being collected to help him get back on his feet. You can make those to the Mayfield-Graves County Tornado Relief Fund through Independence Bank, PO Box 4, Fancy Farm, KY 42039. Specify that the donation is for Mr. Marco Sanchez.
