Reserves day - Jamie's Story

It's Reserves Day. Blesma Member and Special Forces Reserve Jamie Hull tells his story;

Jamie was building up to go to Afghanistan but was injured while learning to fly solo.

“In 2007 I was part of 21 SAS and an active young officer in the Thames Valley Police. I wanted to learn to fly, so I signed up for a course in Florida. One day during training, when I was flying solo, the plane I was in had an engine fire at an altitude of 1,000ft. The flames breached the cockpit and, as I made a concerted effort to bring the plane down, I received third-degree burns to 60 per cent of my body.”

Since joining Blesma, Jamie's been skydiving and horse riding in Arizona, but water remained his focus.

“I completely lost the confidence to get into the water. My mojo was gone but I knew why. It takes a huge amount for fragile skin to recover from third-degree burns like mine. I can’t emphasis enough how debilitating it is. And I was so, so worried what the corrosive salt water might do to me.

Both physically and mentally, I get so much out of diving. There’s also a strong environmental aspect to scuba. The sport and PADI are addressing environmental issues such as plastics in the oceans, which we should all be mindful of. A small impact makes a real difference, and that can hopefully be brought into some of our future Blesma dives.”