Soldier who lost legs in Taliban blast to marry nurse who saved him
A BRITISH soldier who lost his legs to a Taliban roadside bomb in Afghanistan is to marry the nurse who cared for him in hospital – and saved his life.
David Birrell, 32, said his fiancee Mary Parkinson, 36, gave him a reason to live when they met while she nursed him at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.
He has even started a new career as a racing driver competing against able-bodied rivals.
The couple, from Innerwick, East Lothian, plan to marry in a humanist ceremony this autumn.
David joked that getting down on both knees instead of one hurt a little, but he added: “It would have hurt more if she had said no.
Proud
“There’s something about Mary and the love and support she gives me that makes me think everything is possible.
“I now feel proud to be alive. My legs are gone, but I’m not. And I’m not stopping, I have a long way to go before I’m finished and I know it’ll be easier now I’ve got Mary by my side.”
David’s first marriage to Michelle, the mother of their two young sons, did not survive his battle to come to terms with his disability.
“After the explosion took my legs, I thought my life was over. To begin with, I felt worthless. Losing my legs made me vulnerable and anxious and Mary saw me at my worst,” he said. “I’d no idea it would lead to love. Mary saved my life, in more ways than one.”
David stepped on an explosive device while on patrol with Black Watch in Afghanistan in 2010.
“I was catapulted into the air and landed hard on my stomach. It wasn’t until the dust settled that I realised how bad my injuries were,” he said.
“My legs were mangled. My right one had bone protruding through the skin.” He was transferred to Birmingham’s Selly Oak Hospital and then to Edinburgh where he met Mary. They met up again when Mary “liked” a Facebook photo of him meeting Prince Harry at an Invictus Games driving challenge. “I messaged her to thank her for looking after me,” said David, who asked her out.
Mary said: “I always felt I had a connection with him but being his nurse it would have been unprofessional to act on it so when he was discharged, that was it at first.”