WORD
Ace
Cadet
Teen praised for
saving Army dad’s
thumb from family
dog after horror
accident
It was one of
those ‘no! no! no!’
moments.
Murphy the four-year-old French
Bulldog will hardly sit still for our
photographer – despite, or perhaps
due to, the distraction of a fresh
tennis ball.
It’s not hard to imagine the struggle
that must have taken place in the
same Gloucester house just a few
months earlier.
Cadet Lance Corporal Maizey Cleary
certainly recalls the school morning
last year, when she saved her father’s
severed thumb tip from the family
dog following a freak accident at their
home.
“Murphy was sniffing the thumb, and
he got it in his mouth,” explains the
26
SUMMER 2020 the imjin
dog’s teenage owner. “It was one of
those ‘no! no! no!’ moments.”
FLESH AND BLOOD
Maizey’s father, Warrant Officer Class
2 Simon Cleary of the British Army,
who serves as part of the ARRC’s
headquarters staff, had lost one-third
of his thumb down to the knuckle after
trapping it in a door.
“There was a very loud noise and I ran
upstairs. There was a lot of blood –
and the thumb on the floor. I ran up to
my dad and he had a flannel wrapped
around his hand.
“Mum was running around. I was very
surprised at how calm I stayed!”
The Gloucestershire army cadet has
been praised for faultlessly applying
her first aid training, and was recently
presented with a certificate by the
Commander of the Allied Rapid
Reaction Corps.
Just 13-years-old at the time, Maizey
had only been in cadets for little under
half a year.
Now a cadet lance corporal, she
admits to enjoying first aid and is even
considering a career in nursing.
And as for her father? Maizey smiles
before admiting: “He’s still a little
sensitive about the whole thing.
“But at least he can have a bit of a
laugh about it now.”
@HQARRC
Allied Rapid Reaction Corps