In light of Omar Khadr’s recent $10-million settlement from the Canadian government, former U.S. army medic Donnie Bumanglag is speaking out about saving Khadr’s life in 2002.
The veteran was just 21 years old when he crawled across a battlefield to retrieve an “enemy patient” with significant injuries. That patient was Khadr.
“[H]e was in writhing pain, anxious, acting somewhat combative, all because of probably altered states of consciousness and everything that’s occurring during compensated shock,” Bumanglag told CTV News Channel on Tuesday. “I was taken aback a little bit by his age, his look, and his demeanor. The whole thing was a huge overload on my senses at a young age.”
Despite the controversy surrounding Khadr’s payout, Bumanglag said he doesn’t regret the decision to save Khadr’s life.
“None of us were in his shoes, none of us could imagine what he went through, and to pretend that we can is unreasonable. I just feel like the best thing we could do is focus on ourselves and move forward."
