The Man Who Survived Sitting on a Grenade Almost Without a Scratch

image via Mirror

Smothering a grenade to save one's comrades is seen as one of the most heroic actions that can be taken on the battlefield. Most of the time, the action is very fatal, and a small chance of the time the smother-er might survive with serious injuries.

And then you have Lance Corporal Matthew Croucher, who is apparently invincible since in 2008 he smothered a grenade to save his squad, was blown off of his feet, and then walked away without a scratch.

image via Tumblr

Because he was a T-1000.

The British military had discovered a compound they suspected of producing improvised explosive devices, which were the number one killer of troops in the War on Terror. So naturally they wanted to check it out and see if it was actually an enemy factory worth dropping a bomb on, and not a school full of puppies and baby orphans.

image via EmanuelCounty

Unless they were planning on bombing them with cuddles.

So a four man team was sent it to check it out, and among them was the aforementioned Croucher.

While creeping through the field leading up to the suspected facility, Croucher felt himself hit a wire at about knee height. From there he heard the metallic sound of a grenade arming and witnessed it get flung directly in front of him.

The time he appeared to have left in his life wasn't even enough for a prayer.

image via Sojo

In a few seconds you can just say it to Him personally anyway.

Thinking quickly, Croucher yelled "grenade" before diving down and rolling himself on top of the grenade so his backpack shielded him from the blast. In his own words, he hoped he would "just keep his head and torso intact", limbs be damned.

When the grenade did go off, Croucher was flung into the air, violently hitting the ground several feet away. After thirty seconds of disorientation and figuring out if he was still alive, Croucher got up and assessed his condition. While his backpack had caught on fire, and almost all of his gear and clothing were riddled with thousands of bit of shrapnel, Croucher was perfectly fine.

Well except for a measly nosebleed.

image via DailyMail

The actual backpack.

Rather than do something normal like abort the mission and get Croucher medically checked out, he and his squad instead moved quickly to set up an ambush in order to kill the Taliban who would inevitably come to inspect their supposed victim. It didn't end well for the Taliban.

Croucher was later awarded the George's Cross for being explosion-proof, which is the highest award in the British military for action not in direct contact with the enemy.

image via DailyMail

 One of only 22 living recipients.