Lynn soldier shot by Taliban
A ROYAL Anglian soldier has spoken of his determination to get back to the front line after suffering horrific injuries from a gunshot wound while serving in Afghanistan.
When Corporal Robert McLaughlan (27) was shot by Taliban forces while on operations in the Gereshk Valley in May he believed he had become the latest casualty of the Afghanistan conflict.
But the heroic spirit of the Royal Anglian Regiment saw him dragged to safety, before being taken for emergency surgery on a bullet wound which had gone straight through his pelvis, while only narrowly bypassing his bowel.
Now, five months later, Cpl McLaughlan, of Balmoral Road, Gaywood, is on the road to what he hopes will be a full recovery thanks to an intensive course of rehabilitation and treatment from the Army.
This week he told the Lynn News about the fateful day in May in which his life almost ended before expressing a steely determination to return to full duty.
Cpl McLaughlan, a member of 1st Battalion, said: "I dropped to the floor straight away, I did not think it was a bullet as it felt like something much bigger, I thought it was an RPG.
"The bullets were still coming in and dirt was flying up, I did not think I would be coming out of it.
"I did not see the reserve section behind me, I felt a tug on the shoulder and was dragged into the compound.
"I sat there for a while but they could not take me back through the normal route and had to hammer through a wall to get me out. From the point of being hit to being in surgery was two hours."
For Cpl McLaughlan such skirmishes were a regular feature of operations in Afghanistan.
He added: "Every day you come under some sort of contact and there are quite a lot of close calls. On one of my first days I was treating a casualty as an engineer stood behind me.
"Some of the guys were in contact with the Taliban and I saw a round coming towards me. I felt the wind past my face and went back. I could see the engineer on his back, he checked his legs and arms and was fine. The round hit his rifle and became bedded in the bank."
The injuries have left Cpl McLaughlan suffering almost constant pain in the lower stomach and groin area, which is believed to have been caused by nerve damage, but he hopes the treatment he is receiving at the Army's rehabilitation centre at Headley Court, South London, will lead to a full recovery.
He said: "I want to get back to full fitness. As far as I am concerned I want to get fit and get back, possibly touring Afghanistan or Iraq in 2009."
Cpl McLaughlan, a former pupil at Whitefriars Primary School and the Park High School, is a veteran of ten years service in the Army and has served in Northern Ireland and Iraq, as well as an earlier tour of Afghanistan.
He would like to appeal to Lynn News readers to support the 1st Royal Anglian Afghanistan Memorial Fund, which supports the families of soldiers who have lost their lives or who have bee seriously injured in duty.
Donations should be sent to Major R.C. Barrett, Treasurer, 1 R Anglian Afghanistan Memorial Fund, Elizabeth Barracks, Pilbright, Surrey, GU24 0DT. Cheques should be made payable to CB 1 R Anglian.
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Weather for Kings Lynn
Monday 06 September 2010
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