From mine blast back to duty

For personnel in the Armed Forces, like Sergeant Stuart Pearson, who get injured or fall ill, the operational medical care pathway, as it is known in MOD, can span continents and oceans, ensuring the best treatment in theatre and at home.

The journey back to recovery for all Armed Forces personnel has up to seven main stages. See Related Links >>> for photographs which show and explain every stage of the path.

Sergeant Stuart Pearson from 3 Para Battalion of 16 Air Assault Brigade here tells us his story from the moment he lost his leg in the mine blast to his return to duty, and reflects on the medical care he received:

"I lost my left leg in Helmand on 6 September 2006. Moments earlier, my friend Corporal Stuart Hill had stood on a mine and been badly injured. While I was looking for a helicopter landing site so we could evacuate him, I stood on a second mine. I also suffered massive blast injuries to my right leg, which was saved, thanks to the skills of the medics.

"I remember thinking: "Oh shit, not me!" I couldn't believe it. I injected myself with morphine straight away and my mate Andy Barlow applied a tourniquet to my stump.

"In the chaos that followed, there were two further explosions and, again, I was caught by the blast. Eventually a US Black Hawk helicopter winched us out of the minefield and took us to meet a Chinook that had medics aboard.

"On our journey to the field hospital at Camp Bastion, Corporal Mark Wright, who had also been injured in the minefield, died.

"I spent two days in the field hospital undergoing further amputation to stop gangrene, and doctors opened up my stomach, fearing internal injuries. Luckily, none were found.

"From there, I was flown on an Aeromed C17 to Birmingham Airport. An ambulance then whisked me straight to Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham. Staff cleaned my wounds and applied skin grafts to my right leg, using skin from my right thigh. My right ankle was smashed but by the end of October doctors had managed to save my foot.

"Being treated with other military patients in the same ward definitely helped. Only other military patients truly understand what we'd been through.

"When my best friend Peter visited, he bought me a toy parrot, an eye-patch and a copy of Runners Weekly. That was good.

"When my mates visited, we'd often go to the pub next door. That was just two-and-a-half weeks after I got hit, but my surgeon was all for it.

"Banter was a big help. Military patients joke that if you lose a lower leg, it's just a scratch. However mine's a 'proper amputation'; above the knee.

"My Commanding Officer visited me as soon as he got back from Helmand. I felt guilty but he stopped me in my tracks and said, 'Look, that's wrong. You made the correct decisions.'

"I've also seen a counsellor at Headley Court, where I was fitted for my prosthetic leg there is always at least one patient worse off than you. Camaraderie is very strong and we can share our experiences with others who've lost limbs.

"Immediately, I was fitted for my prosthetic leg, I felt more independent. Without a shadow of a doubt, the doctors and nurses got me through it.

"You don't think about walking when you've got two legs, but now I need to think about it a lot more. I get phantom tingling all the time, which, according to the experts, is common following a shock amputation. It's so weird getting a cramp when I know there is nothing there.

"When I took my first steps, I used crutches but as soon as my physio, Kate, came back carrying walking sticks, my eyes lit up. That was so different and I was dead chuffed. By Easter, I was down to just one walking stick, but now I don't need any.

"I never feared my career was over and I vowed to crack on. I've only got eight years of my career left and I'd rather see them through.

"There is a chance that I could go back to Afghanistan but nothing is confirmed. If I do, it won't be front line duty. I'll be stuck behind a desk. It's going to be different from being in the thick of it with the Taliban but at the end of the day, I've had my fun, my own little war.

"I do get down sometimes but I try not to let it happen too often. A positive attitude is essential, because I know that my leg's not going to grow back. I've got to live with it and make the most of what I've still got."

Unlike Sgt Pearson, most injured personnel do not need to undergo all seven stages of the operational medical care pathway, which represent escalating levels of treatment and are outlined in Related Links>>>

Most are not battlefield casualties. The majority of those who receive in-theatre treatment and further care and rehabilitation in the UK are the victims of sports injuries, accidents or illness and for many there is no need to leave theatre. Of the 717 British hospital admissions in Afghanistan from January to October 2007, 523 were for non-battle injuries or disease.

But whether someone has received a sporting injury requiring a short spell in a theatre field hospital; or like Sgt Pearson they have lost a limb in combat, the treatment received is tailored precisely to the needs of the patient.