Jack Cummings will be part of a team of Blesma Members taking part in Blesma's first in-house 24 hour stream! 

Jack is no stranger to streaming, having already taken part in several gaming events with the Legion Games. For his section on the 24 hour stream he will be hosting a COD Warzone tournament. Listen out, because he will soon be speaking to BFBS Radio to share the news of stream! 

This is his story...

“A week after getting my GCSEs, I began my career as a soldier at the Junior College in Harrogate. My dad had been in the Royal Signals, but he advised me to join the Royal Engineers. I liked the fact that you could get civilian qualifications in the Engineers, and so I trained as an electrician."

“I suppose the job chose me, but I really enjoyed it. It was packed with adrenaline and I deployed on my first tour of Afghanistan when I was 19. The IEDs were all made of metal back then so were quite easy to find with our metal detectors. Looking back I was naive, but I was doing proper soldiering!”

“When I went back to Afghanistan in the summer of 2010 the threat had totally changed. The Taliban had realised that it had been too easy for us to detect the IEDs so they were now much smaller, with less metal in them. Service personnel were getting killed every day.”

“I was injured on 14 August 2010. I was 22 years old. I can’t remember anything about what happened but have been told that I’d been searching an area when an IED went off. My team commander thought I was dead. The guys on the ground applied tourniquets and kept me conscious until the emergency response team got there.

“I came very close to dying. The doctors didn’t think I’d make it, and when my mum and dad got the dreaded knock on the door they were told to just pack a weekend bag because they would be coming to say goodbye.”

“I was in a coma for 30 days, then in intensive care for six months. When I woke up, what had happened didn’t kick in until a week or so later, when I was able to talk to my dad. He’s ex-Army, a man’s man, but when I asked him if I’d lost my legs he started to cry. That’s when I realised I wasn’t dreaming.”

“I’ve had loads of operations since – too many to count. At the start, I was in and out of theatre a lot. I went to Headley Court in February 2011 and was there for three-and-a-half years. My rehab was slow; at first I used an electric wheelchair, then a manual one. I was given prosthetics, but because my injury is through the pelvis on one side that didn’t work. I had to relearn everything.”

“I’d left home at 16, so I wanted my independence back. Headley Court was a long slog, but by May 2014 I was ready to move on. More than anything, I felt lucky to be alive. Talking through stuff keeps you keep positive. I met a Special Forces guy who’d been paralysed when he was shot through the neck. He was getting on with his life so I thought I should, too. I’m independent, I got married in 2017, I have so much to live for.”

“Blesma was there for me right from the start. After I was discharged I went on a Blesma skiing trip, which was fantastic, and the Association got me a really good wheelchair. I took part in last year’s London Marathon to raise a few quid for the charity and I really enjoyed it, although the training was hard! I finished in just over four hours and raised more than £3,000.”

“I’ve recently taken part in Making Generation R. I’d done a few talks before using PowerPoint and photos, but the programme really taught me how to keep people’s attention. The training was very intense – listening to fellow Members’ stories was an emotional experience, but so inspiring. Now, I’m enjoying the gift that is life, and sharing that with my wife, Sarah. We’ve been through hell, so now we want to enjoy life together.”

You can join Jack and the rest of the team in Game on for Blesma's Discord.

Or why not follow him and watch the stream on Twitch?

Jack: https://www.twitch.tv/jack_top4997

Game on For Blesma: https://www.twitch.tv/gameonforblesma