Wounded soldier wants to go back

British troops training at Camp Bastion in Helmand province

Michael Stoker, a soldier from Belfast, was wounded in Afghanistan in May.

The vehicle he was travelling in was blown up and Michael suffered a broken pelvis and severe burns to almost a third of his body.

He is now part of the way through a lengthy process of recovery that he hopes will see him returning to his regiment in the new year.

'You really just do it for your mates,' he says. 'You just go back and carry on with your job.'

Relieved to see his legs

Michael says he cannot remember much about the attack. "All I remember is being inside the vehicle and seeing the hot oil burning me and shouting for my mates to get me out."

He saw many fellow soldiers lose limbs in similar attacks and was relieved to see he still had his legs.

Another shock was in store when he was airlifted from the scene.

One minute he was in a war zone and the next he woke up in Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham with his family standing by the bed.

At Selly Oak he underwent weeks of major surgery and skin grafts

Like many recovering servicemen and women, Michael Stoker transferred from Selly Oak to the Defence Rehabilitation Centre at Headley Court near London.

Horrific experience

Physiotherapist Sarah Dowding says many of the Headley Court patients go through low periods because of the trauma they have been through.

"They have to self-manage. They're not going to have a physio or nursing care full-time for the rest of their lives."

Despite the horrific experience he went through in the burning vehicle Michael is determined to return to his regiment, the Queen's Royal Hussars, and to rejoin his mates in Afghanistan.

Politics Show from Northern Ireland examines the role of soldiers from Northern Ireland in the Afghanistan conflict.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version