LLOYD ROBERTSON: A Canadian soldier who had a brush with death in a separate incident in Afghanistan is already thinking about going back. Master Bombardier Bounyarat4 Makthepharak was critically injured when Taliban rockets slammed into the coalition base in Kandahar. Since returning home to Ottawa, the soldier, known to his pals as Mac, has shied away from the spotlight as he recovers from his injuries. But today he broke his silence about his harrowing ordeal in this exclusive interview with CTV's Roger Smith. BOUNYARAT TANAPHON MAKTHEPHARAK (Master Bombardier): Everything is so smoky. I couldn't remember. I think I remember saying that I was hit.
ROGER SMITH (Reporter): Bounyarat4 Tanaphon Makthepharak knows he's lucky to be alive, and he has the scars to prove it.
MAKTHEPHARAK: The shrapnel exploded somewhere behind my back and went through my lungs and my heart. Yeah, I was very happy to come back alive for sure.
ROGER: Known simply as Mack, the 30 year old reservist was critically injured just two weeks ago when a Taliban rocket hit the base in Kandahar. Evacuated to a hospital in Germany, he almost died on the operating table.
MAKTHPHARAK: I was clinically dead for awhile. They had to like open up my ribs and massage my heart to get me stabilized.
SMITH: Then a miraculous recovery. Flown home last week, just out of hospital, now walking again, albeit slowly, welcomed back to his regiment as a hero.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Glad to see you all in one piece.
MAKTHEPHARAK: Yeah. It was pretty close.
SMITH: Scarred in Afghanistan, Mack was first scarred by war in his native Louse. His father, head of the Laotian army was executed when the communists took over. In the early 80s, he and his mother escaped to a refugee camp in Thailand where Mack found a role model in UN peacekeepers.
MAKTHEPHARAK: The boys wearing the blue helmet beret and stuff like that, and helping other people in need. I thought that was a cool thing to do.
SMITH: Inspiring him years later in his adopted land to join the reserve and serve three missions abroad.
MAKTHEPHARAK: It's something small to give to humanity I guess I would say, but I like doing what I do.
SMITH: And despite his close call, Mack is already thinking about going back to Afghanistan. Roger Smith, CTV News, Ottawa.
PUBLICATION: CTV - CTV News
DATE: 2006.07.12
TIME: 23:00:00 ET
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