Stephen Menary

Stephen's mother Carol remembers only too clearly the day, a year ago, when her son was injured by a bomb at his Army Cadet group. One of Stephen's friends came to the door "He came banging in the house screaming 'there's been an explosion, Stephen's been hurt".

Stephen had been involved in the Army Cadet Force, a national voluntary youth movement, for a few years. On this particular occasion he picked up a torch lying on the ground and was taking it inside when it exploded. "I wasn't even sure what had actually happened. I thought that the torch light had blinded me". At the hospital, Carol was asked to try and calm her son down until they could determine the extent of his injuries. They'd given Stephen painkillers so he wasn't in pain. "It didn't hurt, but I knew it was about to".

Carol was frightened because Stephen couldn't hear her, and was also desperately worried about his vision, especially as Stephen's sight was already restricted to one eye because of a childhood illness.

Stephen is able to talk about the explosion and its aftermath with remarkable equanimity, and it's difficult to believe that he suffered severe wounds to his abdomen, lost his left hand, and lost virtually all his remaining sight and much of his hearing. He says that it doesn't really bother him, and that he doesn't really think about it too much. Even when he was told he had lost a hand he commented "Oh well, goodbye hand, I can manage with one".

There was a chance that Stephen would lose his sight completely, and he has had several operations since the explosion. He doesn't go out much these days, and Carol has adjusted her life as well, and admits to being overprotective, something Stephen does his best to resist. Stephen remains involved with the Army Cadet Force, and travels to camps all over the country.

Stephen's latest venture is to do a parachute jump with the Red Devils for his sixteenth birthday.