Bomb blast Para battling to walk
DONCASTER: A Yorkshire soldier, the most seriously injured to survive an attack in Afghanistan, hopes to walk again after a seven-hour operation.
Paratrooper Lance Bombardier Ben Parkinson’s Land Rover was blown up in 2006, leaving him with 40 injuries including brain damage and the loss of both legs.
A YORKSHIRE soldier, the most seriously injured to survive an attack in Afghanistan, hopes to one day walk again having undergone a seven-hour operation.
Paratrooper Lance Bombardier Ben Parkinson’s Land Rover was blown up in 2006, leaving him with 40 different injuries including brain damage and the loss of both his legs.
Determined not to let it hold him back, the Doncaster man has managed to walk on crutches with prosthetic legs but has since struggled to balance.
Now, in a documentary to air tonight, he has spoken of his hopes for the future as he prepared for a seven-hour operation to help straighten his spine.
“I am excited, it’s been over 10 years that I have been waiting for it,” he said before the surgery which took place at the Royal Preston Hospital two weeks ago.
“My walking is going a lot, lot better but I need this operation for it to progress.
“I am confident this operation will make a big difference. It will definitely make a difference in some way.”
Speaking a few days after the operation, during a physiotherapy session, L/Bdr Parkinson said: “I’m very happy, it’s slightly painful but I’m not that bad. It’s very, very good.”
Having been so badly injured when his vehicle hit a mine in Helmand Province, L/Bdr Parkinson wasn’t expected to live.
But the 33-year-old’s fight to survive inspired remarkable scenes in his home town, with 30,000 people turning out to watch as he carried the Olympic Torch in 2012.
The curve in his back has not only affected his walking but, for the first time in years, he has been complaining to his parents about being in pain, his family said.
Eight years ago the soldier had an operation to install screws and two rods in his back.
But his spine has curved below these rods and this latest operation involved the surgeons putting new screws in at the bottom of his back and then adding length to the original rods.
After the operation, one of the surgeons, Alex Baker, said: “So far it’s looking pretty good.
“It’s looking fairly well-balanced. We’re very happy with the X-rays and how it all looks.”
L/Bdr Parkinson’s mother, Diane Dernie, told the Inside Out programme that the operation was an important step.
She said: “This operation means everything to Ben. There are good medical reasons why it needs to happen but for Ben it’s all about the walking.”
Speaking as her son is taken into theatre, she said: “I’m more nervous than he is, he’s cool as a cucumber.
“We’re in bits. I think no matter how old your kids are you never think this is what you are going to be doing.”
His stepfather, Andy Dernie, said: “There are probably other operations that this will lead on to, but one at a time.
“The next ones won’t be as scary, but this one was a scary one.
“We’re glad it’s over and we’re fairly sure that it’s an absolute 100 per cent success.”
The programme featuring L/Bdr Parkinson’s operation will be shown in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire tonight at 7.30pm on BBC One.
I am confident this operation will make a big difference. L/Bdr Ben Parkinson, who was injured while serving in Afghanistan.