Lynn soldier shot by Taliban
A YOUNG Royal Marine has told of the moment he was shot while defending an exclusion zone in the notorious Afghan Helmand Province.
Enemy fire ripped through lance corporal Matt Kingston's ankle and cut into the legs of one team mate and the foot of another as they finished a patrol.
L/Cpl Kingston (22) and his comrades, who are all now recovering in hospital in Birmingham, were dragged to cover by colleagues and it was only then that he realised they were injured.
The former Downham schoolboy from West Lynn said: "I just thought what the hell was that? Then I looked down at my boot and there were two red holes. That's when I realised I had been shot.
"All I was thinking about was still wanting to do my job and just hoping we were going to get out of there because the ambush was pretty nasty."
During the two-hour operation that followed to get them 400 metres to waiting rescue transport another soldier was shot in the thigh.
The injured were all helicoptered to the British military desert base Camp Bastion and seen by medics before being flown back to England.
Mr Kingston, who was awarded the King's Badge for best all=round marine when he passed out of training last November, had been in Afghanistan for less than two months when he was injured last week.
He now faces up to a year of operations and rehabilitation before he finds out whether his ankle can be healed. Surgeons fear his bones may have to be fused, leaving movement severely restricted.
He said: "I'm just gutted I had to leave the lads. It's all I care about really.
"I would give anything to be healthy and back out there again."
Mr Kingston's mum Gail, who runs West Lynn Ferry with husband Steve, said: "To begin with it is devastating, then as you work through it you realise that although he has got a seriously injured foot, it is a foot and not his head, and you get on with helping him with the long process of recovery."
She sent thanks to the military for its exemplary support during the ordeal.
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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