Duchess Of Cornwall Meets With Injured Soldiers
His shattered body slumped on a hospital bed, triple amputee Craig Wood tells Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, about his desperate wish to walk again.
At just 18, he is one of the youngest British soldiers to lose three limbs after he was horrifically injured in a bomb blast in Afghanistan in July.
Doctors were forced to remove both of his legs and part of his left arm. When he arrived at hospital, he had lost 27 pints of blood and doctors told his family his chance of survival was 50 per cent.
But despite the appalling odds, Craig, of the 2nd Battalion the Rifles, fought back and is now determined to make a good recovery.
He is now one of just three triple amputees in the country to have survived the conflict.
Craig was moved from Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham, to the military’s rehabilitation centre at Headley Court, in Surrey, earlier this week and was today undergoing physiotherapy when Camilla stopped by his room.
Craig, along with his parents and his fiancee
The Rifleman, who still bears the terrible facial scars of his ordeal just 11 weeks ago, described his experience – and even asked if he could have his picture taken with the Royal visitor on his mobile phone.
Although he arrived in Afghanistan back in April, the same month that he turned 18, Craig told the Duchess that he was out of action for his first few weeks of duty due to a shoulder injury.
On July 30 he was finally deemed fit enough to out on foot patrol with his colleagues in 2nd Battalion the Rifles.
He had been issued with a device which stops mobile phone signals from activating improvised explosive devices.
But insurgent forces ambushed the soldiers and triggered a lethal wired bomb near to Craig.
A helicopter that had been called to fly him to safety was forced to land and take off in direct gunfire after a battle began between the soldiers and the Taliban.
Craig later said: ‘I’d only been out an hour and a half but I was the only person injured. The nearest person to me was about 10 foot behind but he was fine.
‘The helicopters are absolutely amazing in how fast they get out to you. That’s what saves your life.’
He was put into a drug-induced coma and transferred to hospital in Birmingham where, even as he drifted in and out of consciousness, he began to have a recurring nightmare about losing his limbs.
Unfortunately he contracted a number of serious infections as he fought for life, including MRSA in the tracheotomy in his throat and septicaemia in his wrist, which meant that his hand had to be cut back further by doctors.
He arrived at Headley Court, a forces rehabilitation centre, just a few days ago where he has already discussed prosthetic limbs with his consultant.
While I’m glad that Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, could visit with these young men and help bolster their spirits, I’m also very sad at the reason they need bolstering. This young man especially. It breaks my heart to think that he was so drastically injured at such a young age. It does warm my heart to see his fiancee still standing by his side. So often this kind of tragedy can cause the spouse to run at the thought of the responsibility it takes to help someone through this kind of life.