Ford replaced US Marine’s wrecked Raptor with a brand new F-150 Raptor R

  • US Navy veteran Tyler Vargas-Andrews lost an arm and a leg in Afghanistan
  • When his truck was damaged in an accident, Ford decided to gift him a new truck
  • The new truck is actually more powerful than the old one

Published on Jul 26, 2024 at 7:48 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis

Last updated on Jul 26, 2024 at 7:49 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by Tom Wood

Ford gave a US Navy veteran a brand new F-150 Raptor R as a gift after his previous truck got wrecked.

It was a nice gesture, and it was also technically an upgrade, because the Raptor R is better than his previous truck.

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US Navy Sergeant Tyler Vargas-Andrews was involved in a life-threatening accident during the 2021 US Troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

A bomb went off and Vargas-Andrews lost an arm and a leg.

Even so, he still counts himself lucky.

Speaking to Axios, a Washington DC publication, Vargas-Andrews said his former comrades are the reason he won’t quit.

“I might be living a little differently, a little slower. I’m a double amputee, but I know triple amputees, quadriplegics, people that have every reason to give up and they haven’t,” Vargan-Andrews said.

“The way I look at it, my buddies [who were killed in the attack] aren’t here, and I’d be dishonoring their memory if I chose to quit.”

One of the mightiest Ford trucks out there

Vargas-Andrews bought a brand new F-150 Raptor in 2023 but the vehicle was damaged during an accident.

The good news is no one got hurt, but the bad news is his truck was severaly damaged.

As a result, he needed a new truck, and Ford promptly stepped up with a replacement.

Ford gave him an upgraded Ford F-150 Raptor R, a 2024 model, the one that puts out over 700 horsepower, which is pretty neat.

And it is a valuable truck, too.

Earlier this year, some trucks were stolen from the Michigan factory, and even though ‘only’ 10 trucks were stolen, it cost the company a whopping $1 million, which goes to show just how valuable the Raptor truck actually is.

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Alessandro Renesis

Experienced content creator with a strong focus on cars and watches. Alessandro penned the first-ever post on the Supercar Blondie website and covers cars, watches, yachts, real estate and crypto. Former DriveTribe writer, fixed gear bike owner, obsessed with ducks for some reason.