They shot him in his head, landed as he could and days later he was already in combat

He shot crossed his head Like an sharp splinter, he clouded his eyes, collapsed his arms and filled his blood face. The wound in the skull He did not give him truce or think; He kept piloting how he could with his eyes half closed and open forehead.

Even so, Manfred von Richthofen He managed to descend just to crash without killing himself. The impact was clean and dry. When they took him out of the device, he still had the soaked helmet, the muscles agreed and the absent look.

A recovery as fast as reckless

The pilot was 24 years old, was in charge of his own hunting unit and had already accumulated more than fifty demolition. The medical part that was written on July 6, 1917 described a Fracture in the frontal region of the skullwith momentary loss of sight, difficulty moving and a state of severe confusion.

None of that caused him to lower his rhythm. Just 40 days after the accident, He reappeared in the air with a head band and the same forever expression. And that the surgeons who attended him recommended to suspend all activity for several months.

According to the archives of the German Army of World War I, even Kaiser Guillermo II He tried to stop him, to which he replied: “Von Richthofen is me. Whoever wants to give my life for my homeland cannot prevent me from anyone and less than anyone the Kaiser.”

The pilot turned into a legend

By then, the character already surpassed man. It was the Red Baronthe most feared pilot of the World War Iwith a triplano Fokker Dr.i painted intense red and a reputation that grew to each day.

What they did not know at that time was that this wound not only left physical sequels. The bullet did not kill him in the air, but he did altered something essential in his head. From then on, His maneuvers became more riskyits less tactical decisions and its, more impulsive flights.

Years later, neuropsychologists Daniel Orme and Thomas Hyattafter reviewing their medical history after a plane crash, they concluded that the neurological impact was immediate and serious. In his analysis, they explained that “immediately, he became a different person. He was miserable, in a bad mood and impulsive.”

According to these US Air Force specialists, whose studies were published in Human Factors and Aerospace Safetythe damaged area of ​​the skull coincides with the frontal lobe area, which regulates the trial, decision making and impulse control. The conclusion was clear: The pilot suffered severe cranial traumawith sequelae that affected their behavior until their death.

The last persecution and fatal error

That change was not imperceptible. He was seen, for example, resting his head band at the table of a restaurant, showing the wound without shame. He also abandoned part of the tactics he had rigorously followed throughout his career.

As Orme explained in his analysis, “he wrote the manual of what had to be done and broke his own rules.” Land land landings, unnecessary persecutions and flights within dangerous areas became part of their day to day.

On April 21, 1918, the Last error. He persecuted a Canadian pilot without experience to an extremely low altitude, completely ignoring his position on enemy territory. According to the historian Alan Bennettco -author of The Red Baron's Last Flight“It is quite evident that he had lost the reference of his aerial situation.” The wind conditions were unusual and did not have time to correct.

They shot him from the ground, with an accurate burst that crossed his chest and left the plane shattered. He fell near the somme. There was no glory in the impact, or greatness in his last breath despite having Registered 80 demolition. Only a poorly placed bandage and a wound without healing.