Sgt. Cory Muzzy remains at Duke Hospital where he's recovering from severe injuries he received during a training accident last month.
The accident killed a fellow soldier, and injured six others.
"Just a big boom -- a big ball of fire," said Pfc. Yonathan Martinez, who trained with Sgt. Muzzy. "We're all still trying to get through it too, trying to process what happened."
Martinez was with Sgt. Muzzy that early morning in late February when a routine training exercise went terribly wrong.
"It blew his leg off, blinded him, broke his neck, shattered his forearm," said Sgt. Muzzy's father, Barry Muzzy. "He might lose his left leg. They're trying to reconstruct it."
Barry Muzzy and his wife moved from New Mexico to be with their son.
"I get angry. I get sad when I look at him in that bed. I just don't understand how this could have happened in a training exercise," said Barry Muzzy. "He's such a good kid. To see him lying in that bed the way he is, I have thousands of emotions tonight I can't control any of them. He doesn't see it as a liability. He'll back on his feet in no time, I know it. He's a strong kid."
The couple is now living in Roseboro, which is a town full of strangers, who didn't think twice about helping them raise money to fund what will be a long road to recovery.
"Never in my life in 60 years have I ever seen such caring people," said Barry Muzzy. "Most everybody here is a stranger to us, but they act like we're family."
Meanwhile, Sgt. Muzzy's wife of just eight months says her husband is getting better.
"He could see some colors today," said Michelle Muzzy. "So I'm all 'Yay, so excited!'"
Michelle said she keeps in touch with the other families affected in that accident. She says for the most part they're doing okay.
"You never think, you're just like 'Eh, go training. Have fun. See you Friday,' and then this happens," said Michelle. "I'll probably never feel that way again but definitely kisses every time he leaves now."
There's still no official cause of the accident yet, but Sgt. Muzzy has spoken about the blast to his father.
"My son seems to think that it might have been that the fuse was put in before the powder and when they tried to ram it into the cannon it kicked back and when they tried it again that's when it blew," said Barry Muzzy.
Sgt. Muzzy has another surgery this Friday at Duke, and then will go to a hospital in San Antonio where he could spend a year or more recovering.
In all, $6,500 raised for Sgt. Muzzy Wednesday night.
Click here for more information about helping Sgt. Muzzy and his recovery.
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