News
IT AIN'T HALF HOT MUM
Sally Bengtsson / 2009-11-15 18:13:46
The war in Afghanistan may seem a million miles away for most people living here on the Costa Blanca, but it was brought a little closer to us at The Leader office last Friday when Alex Smith and Dave Kendall popped in for a chat on Exite Radio.
Alex and Dave are both on leave at present, and making the most of their time off by visiting Alex’s parents who live in Torrevieja. Alex’s mum runs a busy hairdresser´s, Charlies in El Limonar.
They both suffered horrific injuries while serving in Afghanistan, and were sent back to the UK to recover. They have returned to duty since, but the time they spent in Helmond Province stays fresh in their minds, and their thoughts are often with the mates they left behind still out there.
Alex is from Barnsley. He joined up three years ago, and says it is the best thing he ever did.
Dave, from Liverpool, changed his dead end job for life as a soldier two years ago. Both love the life, and say it is everything they expected and more. Their first mission was to Kosovo, where they spent their time mostly peace-keeping. It was a great introduction to life as a squaddie, and gave them a chance to get to know the rest of the group. They are in the same battalion, 2 Rifles, though not in the same company, and didn’t actually become friends until they were sent to Afghanistan.
When they heard they were going to Afghanistan they were both excited and a little apprehensive. It would be a great opportunity to put into practice everything they had learnt in training on Salisbury Plain, and in other exercise areas. Arriving at Kandahar Airport they saw Burger Kings and hotels, however, the war zone they were then flown to was completely different. Alex describes it as like a rundown estate, where no one would chose to live.
Alex was assigned to FOB Jackson, which is one of the biggest base camps in Helmond Province, with approximately 400 soldiers. Their main job is to train the Afghan Army to be self sufficient. This was going well, but it seems to have run into problems since. As Dave says, the main problem is that Taliban members infiltrate the army, do all the training, then turn against their instructors.
This is the harsh reality, and means that it is really difficult to trust anybody in the Afghan Army. The sad thing is that the traitors are in a clear minority but they manage to tarnish the whole Afghan Army with a bad reputation. Dave goes on to add that the Afghan Police are extremely corrupt too, which means that law and order is hard to keep in the country.
However, the ANA, who were allowed out of camp, were great at doing the British soldiers favours, and bringing them fizzy drinks and snacks from the nearest town.
The day Alex was blown up was a terrible day. He had been on the ground for 16 hours, and just as dawn broke, at about 6am, someone drove over an IED (Impovised Explosive Device) just a metre and a half from where he was standing.
The impact was incredible. He received most of it in his face, which was littered with fragments of metal and rocks. Alex lost the eyesight in his right eye when his retina was detached and he lost the hearing in his left ear.
Dave was awoken by the explosion: loud bangs had come to be his normal wake up call. He sprinted out to help the wounded and began mopping the blood pouring out of Alex’s face. He didn’t recognize him at first, and it was only after he had removed some of the blood that he saw he was treating his friend.
One thing that both agree on is that the medical care they receive out there is second to none. Within half an hour of the explosion Alex was surrounded by 15 doctors, all surgeons, mostly British, American and Dutch. The hospital in the middle of the desert has some of the best doctors in the world and whenever anyone is injured they know they are in good hands.
Alex was given morphine and his face was pieced back together again. He had 21 stitches in his mouth, 6 in his nose and 12 around his eyes. The surgeons did a great job as looking at him now you would never know he has had such horrific injuries. He was then sent to recover at Selley Oak Hospital in the UK where he spent 6 weeks and says that compared to many of the others there, he considers his injuries as quite mild. Fortunately he is regaining the sight in his right eye.
Dave was in Afghanistan a while longer, until he too suffered an explosion. The fighting that day had been hell, although, as he says, at the time you get a real adrenaline rush and it feels as if you are carrying out what you have been trained to do. When one bomb went off and many of the company were badly injured Dave rushed in to help the wounded.
The rules of the game are that you should try and win the battle first, then help those with injuries. He says it was like something out of a movie, with blood everywhere. He saw lots of his mates, lying wounded, and decided to try and drag one who was in the range of fire, into cover. As he was doing this a second bomb went off, knocking Dave unconscious for a few seconds.
He can’t remember much else, but one of the others who was there says it was unbelievable that Dave wasn’t seriously injured. He lost his hearing, which he shrugs off as a minor mishap.
The injured were all transported to hospital in helicopters, and Dave then had what seemed like hundreds of hearing tests and doctor’s appointments. He too was sent back to the UK to recover, and learnt to lip read. He says some hearing is gradually coming back, but at present he cannot be deployed, which he finds disappointing.
They both say they feel guilty about having to leave their mates out in Afghanistan, but it is clear they have nothing to feel guilty about. It has been to a privilege to meet two such selfless young lads. Both strongly believe that everyone who goes to fight in Afghanistan will come back a different person to the one he or she left as.
Alex helped Dave get over the trauma he experienced when he returned to UK. Nothing prepares you for the nightmares and cold sweats that cannot be controlled. They both say they now know how their parents must have felt while they were out there, as when they came back they have religiously followed the news to check how the mates who are still out there are faring.
The excitement they felt upon arriving wore of quite quickly. Altogether they lost 13 friends, all killed in Afghanistan. “It’s hard, but you have to just put it to the back of your mind and carry on with what you’re out there to do,” says Alex. “It makes you sharper.”
We wish them all the very best in their futures and would like to say a big Thank you to them both for selflessly defending British beliefs and values. We would also like to send our very best wishes to all the soldiers all over the world who are fighting for the same just causes on our behalfs.
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