A Graves County Detention Center inmate who was on work detail at the Mayfield candle factory when a tornado leveled the plant on the evening of December 10, 2021, has been bestowed the Graves County Sheriff’s Meritorious Award.
Marco Sanchez was given the award Tuesday night by Sheriff Jon Hayden.
Sanchez, despite suffering a broken leg and cracked ribs when the twister struck the plant, pulled multiple people from the flattened factory and offered aid to many others.
“Days and weeks after the deadly tornado, I and others began hearing about an inmate who worked feverishly at the candle factory site pulling victims from the rubble and rendered aid to others that were trapped and injured,” Hayden said. “In passing, I continued hearing about this unnamed inmate to the point that it aroused my curiosity. I requested an inquiry from some of the jail staff into the veracity of what we had been hearing.”
Hayden said he learned from witnesses that Sanchez was among the roughly 100 workers inside the candle factory when it collapsed. He was trapped and partially incapacitated but “he managed to find a small void in the rubble, and was able to crawl out to safety, despite his injuries,” according to Hayden.
Of the nine people who perished inside the candle factory, several were located near where Sanchez was felled by the collapsed building.
“Mr. Sanchez, after freeing himself (and) with a broken leg and cracked ribs, unselfishly went and found tools and other items and returned, re-entering the rubble to render aid to those injured,” Hayden stated.
Sanchez freed several victims, Hayden added, quite possibly saving lives.
Later in the evening, Sanchez and other candle factory victims were transported to a local emergency room by a volunteer firefighter. After receiving treatment for his broken leg and cracked ribs, Sanchez spotted a Kentucky State Trooper in the emergency room.
“Mr. Sanchez happened to see a state trooper at the hospital. He went up to the trooper and told him that he was an inmate and needed to turn himself in,” Hayden said. “The trooper told him that with everything going on that he was not in a position to help him at that moment, and to do the right thing.”
Sanchez then located a shuttle bus that took him to a shelter after he learned that the jail had been destroyed by the twister. Once arriving at the shelter, he was put in contact with jail staff who then took Sanchez into custody.
“Mr. Sanchez had a lot of decisions to make that night. He could have made the decision to only save himself, but he didn’t. His actions likely resulted in other lives being saved. The series of decisions he made over the next several hours were the right decisions, and we applaud you for that sir,” Hayden told Sanchez during the award ceremony.
Hayden said he made the judge in Sanchez’s case aware of the inmate’s life-saving actions at a hearing last week in McCracken Circuit Court. The judge, Hayden noted, determined Sanchez had 14 more days to serve on his sentence and offered to release Sanchez immediately on shock probation.
Sanchez though, opted to serve out the remainder of his sentence. He will be released on March 1.
“He will be looking for a job, and a place to live. We hope someone will take a chance on him and give him an opportunity to start a new life,” Hayden said. “He is a hard worker, as he has been assisting county government in moving offices since the tornado, and he is a very humble man. We wish him the best and applaud him for his sense of humanity.”
(Photos: Marco Sanchez receiving Meritorious Award from Graves Co. Sheriff Jon Hayden)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
