He lost both legs (and nearly his life ) in Afghanistan, but this former soldier from NorthernIrelandstill insists he’s a lucky man... and is looking forwardtohiswedding
Former Irish Guard Bryan Phillips, a father-of-two from Carrickfergus, tells Ivan Little how he survived being blown up and shot by Taliban, his determination to walk again, and his fundraising efforts to thank those who helped him to recover
It means the world to me that I can be in the position of helping others and I will continue to do this as long as it’s possible for me
Adisabled Carrickfergus war veteran who lost his legs in an IED blast in Afghanistan six years ago is planning to walk down the aisle with his new wife on his prosthetic limbs. Bryan Phillips and his fiancee Natasha Milligan are preparing to get married in 2020, eight years after the ex-soldier was critically injured while serving in Helmand with the Irish Guards.
And Bryan (32), who is currently organising a massive fundraiser later this year for military charities, says he’s a fortunate man. And not just in love. For he insists that in Afghanistan he was also lucky.
Which is a word you wouldn’t normally expect to hear from someone who didn’t just lose his legs in the Afghan ambush, but who was also hit by gunfire from the Taliban as he lay perilously close to death.
But ‘lucky’ is the only word that Bryan Phillips feels does justice to his experiences six years ago in the heat of battle in the searingly hot war zone.
“I really was fortunate,” says the upbeat veteran. “Fortunate that I had such a brilliant group of colleagues around me who knew what to do in a medical emergency. I have them to thank for my life. I had stepped on the IED, which was buried in the ground and covered with weeds and grass.
“After the blast I quickly realised that my legs were gone above the knee. I wasn’t screaming in pain — there was more of a burning sensation than anything else. “Then the shooting started and a bullet that wounded me is still in my thigh because the medics thought that trying to get it out would have caused too much damage.”
Quite remarkably, however, the Lance Corporal didn’t lose consciousness or lose his sense of duty in the midst of the chaos. Despite his severe injuries Bryan was still able to shout out orders to his shocked men to take cover or look away because some of them had never seen such horrendous injuries before.
As the gunfire intensified Bryan pretended he was dead to fool the Taliban, and eventually the insurgent who shot him after the blast was, in military parlance, “neutralised”.
However, just about the last thing that he remembers from his brush with death was getting carried on to the helicopter that took him to Camp Bastion.
But the morphine and other drugs he received soon put him under — and how.
“When I came round I was in hospital in Birmingham. I knew nothing about Camp Bastion or the medivac operation to fly me back to the UK,” he says. However, he recalls every last detail of his rehabilitation, which took place on and off over the following three years at the renowned Headley Court defence medical centre in Epsom, Surrey.
And he says that his positive response to his injuries helped him to cope on his long journey.
He adds: “I wasn’t going to allow the Taliban to beat me or to let my injuries get me down. I was told that when I was learning to walk on my prosthetic legs my determined attitude was a factor in me progressing faster than some of the others at Headley Court.
“I did suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder but I told myself I was in the rehab centre to do a job, to find out how to walk again and to get home to my family and to live a normal life.
“It was hard work over there and eventually I got as far as I could. You are never going to be amazing on prosthetic legs, but I got as good I could.
“My care was transferred to Musgrave Park Hospital in Belfast but I’m pleased to say I haven’t had too many problems.”