The city of Odessa honors councilmans’ son for heroic actions

ODESSA, Texas (KOSA) -Odessa City Council member Mark Matta was in an accident involving a trailer and a jack malfunction.

This caused him pain to this day but lucky for him, his son Wyatt Matta, was there to save the day and now he’s being honored by the city.

After Odessa Mayor Javier Joven heard about Wyatt Matta’s heroic actions, that saved his fathers hand, and decided to commemorate him by making August 22, Wyatt Matta Day.

Weeks ago, council member Matta was changing the tires off of a trailer he was repairing, when the jack that was holding the truck up malfunctioned.

His son, Wyatt, was coming back from picking up a delivery when he heard his dad screaming and quickly reacted.

“At first, I was really scared. I’ve never heard my dad scream like that before. It was really scary, but my instincts kicked in and it was like fight or flight.” said Wyat Matta, Council member Matta’s son.

Wyatt was lucky to find a forklift and lift the truck just enough for his dad to get his hand out.

Matta was taken to the emergency room where he was then airlifted to San Antonio University Hospital for operation.

“The skin was over my hand, so you can see all the interior of my hand. You can see the bone, you can see the nerves, you can see everything and the tendons. So we were like there’s no way I’m going to keep this.” said Odessa city council member, Mark Matta.

Council member Matta said he wasn’t surprised his son sprung into action. He says Wyatt has been beating adversity even before he was born.

“At first they wanted us to end the pregnancy because they said he was going to have to many problems. He was going to be born with heart defects, he was going to have water on the brain, it was going to be a hard life for him,” said Council member Matta.

Now 22 years later, Wyatt found himself saving his father from potentially losing his hand. Something he may not be able to unsee.

“It’s kind of traumatizing experience but I’m glad I was there to help.” said Wyatt Matta.

Council member Matta will have one more surgery on his index finger, which the doctors believe will not be fully functional, but his other four fingers will.

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