Military amputees overcome adversity to challenge for Fastnet Race

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

Eighteen veterans who have lost limbs are taking part in races to qualify for the Fastnet Race

Deborah Haynes, Defence Correspondent

Two years and several operations after Lance Corporal Jonathan Lee lost his leg when a bomb blast threw him 50 metres into a minefield in Afghanistan, he plans to take part in the Fastnet Race next month as part of a team of fellow military amputees.

Lance Corporal Jonathan Lee who hopes to take part in the Fastnet Race

Lance Corporal Lee, 27, is back on his feet, with the help of a prosthetic limb, after recovering from the explosion in which he thought he was going to die and which shattered the bone and muscle in his right leg.

He and 18 other veterans, who have lost limbs in a variety of different ways, from bombs in Afghanistan, Iraq and Northern Ireland to an accident in Poole Harbour, will set sail today in a qualifying race.

Scores of other soldiers have suffered similar injuries in recent weeks as British forces in Afghanistan push on with their bloodiest offensive against the Taleban since the start of the conflict in 2001.

Lance Corporal Lee, who was injured when his Snatch Land Rover hit a roadside bomb in October 2007, advised new amputees to try to be positive and let people help: “You’ve got to get on with it and not feel sorry for yourself. If you feel down, you’ve got to get back up.”

The crew, aged 22 to 68, are a mixture of experienced seamen and relative novices, such as 22-year-old soldier Andrew Barlow, who has only trained on a yacht for a few months. Fusilier Barlow, who lost part of his left leg in a bomb blast in Afghanistan in September 2006, is looking forward to the competition.

Skipper Colin Rouse and fellow members of BLESMA who are now in training for the Fastnet Race

“It gets you back on your feet. Your head’s back in the game. You are part of life again. You’ve got something to live for,” he said.

The British Limbless Ex-Servicemen’s Association (Blesma), a charity for serving and former servicemen and women, put the team together and is funding the adventure. It helps people who have lost arms, legs and even eyes come to terms with their injuries and lead as normal a life as possible.

The yacht’s skipper, Colin Rouse, 52, lost his left leg from above the knee when a boat he was on while in the Royal Air Force exploded in Poole Harbour because of a gas leak in 1999. He firmly believes that amputees can do just as much as able-bodied people. “There is nothing you can’t do. It is just finding a way of doing it. Things just take longer,” he said. The amputee club “is very hard to join, but once you’re in the comradeship is amazing”.

Lance Corporal Lee said the support he received from fellow amputees at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham, where most soldiers with serious injuries are sent for treatment, helped him to recover from the loss of his right leg, which was amputated from part the way down the shin.

“A Special Forces guy came up to me and said, ‘I have lost a leg. Don’t worry you’ll be fine’,” he recalled.

“You have some bad days when you think, for f***’s sake I wish I had died out there. That is when your new leg isn’t working properly, you’re tired, you can’t be bothered. That is when everyone around you piles in to support,” he said.

Now a signaller in the 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment, his ultimate goal is to return to Afghanistan either this year or next.

“I think everyone who gets injured has to have a goal, such as walking again,” said Lance Corporal Lee, who is still in rehabilitation at Hedley Court, the main military rehabilitation centre, but works full-time for the regiment.

For now, his biggest challenge will be the biennial Fastnet Race on August 9. The Blesma crew will sail their 65ft yacht, named the Spirit of Juno, against 300 other teams in the 608-nautical mile race, which starts off Cowes and finishes at Plymouth.

The team is participating in a qualifying race, the William’s Cup, at 10am today. The competition starts at Fort Gilkicker on the Solent and finishes on Sunday at a point between No Man’s Land Fort and Horse Sand Fort.