Wounded soldier helps others who have lost limbs

A SOLDIER who lost a leg in a Taliban bomb blast is set to help others who have been wounded in Afghanistan.

Sergeant Craig Gadd is learning to walk again with a prosthetic limb after his left leg was blown off.

Now, he hopes to draw from his own ordeal to help other servicemen and women maimed in the conflict.

Dad-of-two Sergeant Gadd will be a volunteer assistant welfare officer for Blesma (British Limbless Ex-servicemen's Association).

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He said: "I can't wait to get started.

"Often, the charity struggles to engage with blokes who have lost limbs in Afghanistan.

"I will be able to help them by sharing my own experiences with them."

Sergeant Gadd, a member of Territorial Army unit 299 (Parachute Squadron) Royal Engineers, was on his second tour of duty in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, when he stepped on a hidden bomb in October 2010.

His life was saved by the quick and skilled reactions of his colleagues, who had been searching a compound for bombs, known as IEDs (improvised explosive devices).

Initially, Sergeant Gadd will be covering the Halifax area of West Yorkshire, but it is possible an opening might be created in East Yorkshire.

Later this month, he is due to undergo an operation to remove a growth on his stump, which will enable a more comfortable prosthetic limb to be fitted.

Sergeant Gadd, who lives with his family in Beverley High Road, Hull, said: "It will mean I will be able to lead a much more normal life.

"At the minute, it can be uncomfortable wearing the prosthetic limb due to the calcium growth."

Soon after sustaining his injury, Sergeant Gadd, 39, was enrolled at the Defence Rehabilitation Centre at Headley Court in Surrey.

"I have been limited to what I have been able to do so I have not been back to Headley Court since September," he said.

"As soon as the growth is removed, I can get a new socket and limb and then start the rehab again."

Sergeant Gadd, who also completed tours of Iraq and Cyprus during his 20-year career with the Territorial Army, has been told he will be medically discharged in July. He said: "I am sad to be leaving but soldiers are there to go to war. I have done my time and it's time to move on."