Anthony Wayne grad wounded in Iraq gets World Series honor

Matthew Keil, with his wife Tracy, at their home in Parker, Colorado. The Anthony Wayne grad will participate in World Series ceremonies on Saturday.

There was a time when doctors thought Staff Sgt. Matthew Keil of Swanton Twp. might never move his arms, might never talk, might never again breathe without the aid of a ventilator.

But Sergeant Keil, whose spine was hit when he was shot in the neck by a sniper in Iraq in February, has recovered sufficiently since then that he and another soldier will participate Saturday night in First Pitch ceremonies before Game 3 of the World Series at Coors Field in Denver.

I still can t believe this is happening, said Sergeant Keil, who is now able to speak and has been off a ventilator since June.

I m honored and flabbergasted. It s the World Series. It s unbelievable.

Sergeant Keil, an Anthony Wayne High School graduate who now lives in Colorado, was chosen for the First Pitch ceremony from a list of area soldiers submitted by a Denver television station.

He officially retired from the U.S. Army on Monday because of his medical disability.

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