23rd May 2010

We did it !!! 4 hours 44 minutes and 04 seconds WoW and it was 25 degrees which can i say on behalf of the team we knew .  But a great day had by all.  

The team ( Ros Tracey and Sabrina) were outstanding , we all started our day at 08.00 by taxi to get us to our starting blocks, the girls had various buses to catch, to take them across town to leg 2 ,3/4 Im sure waiting is worse as we were all ready to do our bit the day had come.   But Im told by two members that they found a great cafe ( Nero) and they resisted the cakes, yes honestly !!  but it kept them going while they waited for myself and Ros to our bit.   

So to everyone that has sponsored Thank you so very much, I have been somewhat overwhelmed by it all, and the girls I cant thank you all enough for taking the  time to train and to deliver on the day.

I would like to also thank our partners, dads etc as they have had to put up with us doing our training for the last 6 months, we loved the Champagne and strawberries!!! Fab.

Jacquie

WHAT HAPPENED?

On 25th February 2007 our son   Ben, or ‘Tiny’ as he is known to all in his Company, was driving the lead vehicle in a patrol in a rural area to the south-west of Basra.  The patrol was routine but with a highly worthwhile aim – to attempt to deny insurgent forces the opportunity to launch indirect fire attacks on British bases. During his time in Iraq, Ben's company, the Patrols Company, had a great deal of success and these types of patrols were their priority. However on this day, Ben’s patrol was just incredibly unlucky; at 1745hrs the patrol turned onto a road where unbeknown to them, insurgents had placed a roadside bomb.

There was nothing the patrol could have done to prevent the attack. The Incident Investigation Team later discovered that it was a command-wire detonated Explosively Formed Projectile (EFP) of approximately 45 kg. This is the very type of device that has claimed so many British lives. The main part of the projectile hit or skimmed the top of Ben’s vehicle and he was hit by the shower of shrapnel from the EFP.

Ben was severely wounded, the explosion also lightly wounded the patrol commander and the two lads on top cover. Ben desperately tried but was unable to control the vehicle, which was thrown around by the blast and hit an oncoming petrol tanker before flipping onto its side. Luckily, the soldiers that were on top cover position were only slightly injured and were able to drop inside the vehicle before it rolled onto the drivers side.

When the vehicle came to rest, the remainder of the patrol immediately rushed to get the injured soldiers out. The patrol second-in-command pulled Ben out as he started to regain his senses, with Ben helping where he could. Once out of the vehicle he tried to take command, telling the other patrol members to carry out their immediate action drills. However, once the shock of the injuries set in he collapsed. It was then that two of Ben’s comrades began emergency first aid.

The patrol decided to save time rather than call a rescue helicopter they drove straight to the Field Hospital,this decision most definitely saved Ben’s life. The two soldiers who were administering first aid encouraged him to stay conscious, but Ben, who knew the area extremely well, was giving the driver directions for the shortest route to the field hospital. At this point he could still see through one eye.

BEN’s INJURIES

Once at the British Military Field Hospital at Basra, Ben was stabilised by the trauma team and then flown immediately to the US Combat Support Hospital at Balad, north of Baghdad. Here they desperately tried to save his sight.

Ben lost one eye immediately in the explosion, as three large chunks of shrapnel had hit the right side of his face. Unfortunately the surgical team were unable to save his other eye as it had been cut, the optical nerve had been severed and the eye was bleeding internally. Ben also sustained severe injuries to his right arm and had lost a substantial amount of muscle.  Once the surgical team realised they couldn’t save his eye they made every effort to save his arm. Thankfully they were successful. Ben also suffered a fracture to the base of his skull, multiple fractures and breaks to the facial and nasal bones, fractured mandible, and open wounds to his buttocks and to his right knee.

The surgical team in Balad wired his jaws closed and for the next 2 months he was fed via his stomach. Once repatriated to the UK, Ben was admitted to the Military Wing at Selly Oak Hospital. He had plastic surgery to his major open wounds and underwent a surgical reconstruction of his face, an operation that lasted 6 hours. However there remained a very large open wound on his right temple where the surgeons at Selly Oak had removed one of three large pieces of shrapnel from his head, the other two pieces having been removed at Balad. This wound remained open for 6 months and was a constant cause of concern as he contracted MRSA in the temple wound.

There were some commendable decisions made by Ben's mates on the day of the incident. Firstly, the Patrol second-in-command decided not to wait for the helicopter and in doing so saved vital time in getting Ben to medical assistance. Another good decision was made by ‘Pikey' Phil and Kenty, who administered first aid to Ben, not to put a tourniquet on his arm.  Ultimately the personal skills of the whole patrol helped save his life.

WHERE WE ARE NOW