Afghan war bombs expert shot in head and left penniless
AN Army bomb finder who was shot in the head in Afghanistan is penniless and living in a car.
Jack Lamb has battled PTSD for six years.
After a 13-hour operation to save his life, he spent three years being treated at the Army’s Headley Court rehabilitation centre in Surrey before being medically discharged.
The 25-year-old ex-Rifleman accused the Army of not helping him readjust to life on civvy street, where he is on benefits after failing to find work.
“I came into the real world with no real skills and severe brain damage,” he said.
“I didn’t even know how to pay my own bills.
“I’ve had severe PTSD, breakdowns and put a lot on to my family. I believe there should be more help for people like me out there.”
He has been “sofa surfing” and has his belongings in a VW Golf after a relative could no longer put him up. Jack, of Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, joined 3 Rifles after leaving school at 16 and was deployed to Afghanistan to search for mines and IEDs.
He said: “All I knew was the Army. After I left, my life hit rock bottom. I’m on an Army pension but that doesn’t get you far.
“I applied for a part-time job at a petrol station but was told I didn’t have the right skills. I was one of the best bomb finders in the Army, but I couldn’t work in a petrol station. That was a wake-up call for me.”
Jack’s hopes were raised when he spotted an advert asking for ex-service personnel to appear on the BBC’s property makeover programme DIY SOS.
In the show, fronted by Nick Knowles, volunteers – joined by Princes William and Harry – turned empty houses into a community for ex-servicemen and women in Newton Heath, Manchester.
The BBC hinted at training chances in the building trade, with one message saying: “There will be amazing opportunities to gain construction experience and possible work placements with top construction firms.” Jack says producers dangled the prospect of an internship with the Beeb to get him on the programme. Nothing came of it and he claims they were more interested in getting his story on TV than showing a “duty of care”. He ended up in a home built on the show but moved out after his mental state worsened when he was housed with a fantasist who was caught lying about serving in the Afghan war.
Jack now wants to carry out humanitarian work helping to clear minefields.
The BBC said: “We take the welfare of contributors very seriously and have practices in place to ensure an on-going duty of care.”