Wheelchair user at Blackpool, Lancashire, UK 8th November, 2015. Remembrance Sunday Parade. His legs were blown off in Afghanistan, but Rick Clement left his wheelchair behind to lay a wreath on Remembrance Sunday Five years ago an explosion virtually cut Rick Clement in half. Today the former army sergeant defied medical expectation and walked to lay a wreath at his hometown’s Remembrance service.
His legs were blown off in Afghanistan, but Rick Clement left his wheelchair behind to lay a wreath on Remembrance Sunday Five years ago an explosion virtually cut Rick Clement in half. Today the former army sergeant defied medical expectation and walked to lay a wreath at his hometown’s Remembrance service. In May 2010, Rick, then 30, stepped on a hidden Taliban bomb while on patrol in Afghanistan and had both legs blown off. He suffered debilitating internal injuries and, in the days after, had to be resuscitated from the brink of death twice. Doctors feared the Blackburn-born solider wouldn’t survive, and he was flown home to die with his family by his side. Somehow, Rick survived. Three weeks later he woke up in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. Now, with incredible technological advancements and more than half a decade of gruelling, intense rehabilitation, Rick, now 35, left his wheelchair behind to pay tribute to fallen colleagues at Blackpool Cenotaph on Sunday, aided by two incredible mechanical legs. Rick says. “This is the most apt way that I can pay my respects to all those that have lost their lives, from the friends I lost, to all of the people that have served their country.” “It’ll be a special day for my family,” Rick says. “This is the most apt way that I can pay my respects to all those that have lost their lives, from the friends I lost, to all of the people that have served their country.” Not only did Rick lose his legs in the blast, but he lost any chance of ever fathering his own children. In the early weeks of his recovery, he was warned that his amputations were too high for prosthetics. “There were dark times, no doubt,” Rick adds. “Back then I couldn’t even go to the toilet. I thought I’d never drive again, never swim again, and definitely thought I’d never walk again.” Today, Rick lives in an impressive wheelchair-friendly home in Blackpool and spends his time split between running his charity, A Soldier’s Journey
Size: 2152px × 3368px
Location: Blackpool, Lancashire, UK
Photo credit: © MediaWorldImages / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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