Rob Budgen talks to CivvyLife Magazine about resettlement and Blesma Connects

Rob Bugden Served as an RAF physical training instructor for 11 years, specialising as a parachute jumping instructor. He was involved in a mid-air collision in 2016, acquiring serious spinal cord injuries and was medically discharged. Here he explains how Blesma has supported him during resettlement...

How have your injuries affected you?

Having broken my neck and damaged my spinal cord it was then the best part of four years in hospital and rehabilitation and the long and short of it is I’m a permanent wheelchair user and classified as a tetraplegic, which means all four of my limbs have been affected.

You’re very to the point in your summary…

There’s no point being anything else, because it is, what it is. In terms of resettlement I had a few ideas about what I wanted early on, but I had to get my head round what had happened to me- and learning. For example, it took me nearly a year to be able to feed myself again, normal living stuff. I’m very lucky, I’ve been exceptionally well looked after. I have deferred all my learning credits and my resettlement officer has been absolutely fantastic.

So you’ve had to resettle twice; as a service-leaver and as a newly disabled person…

100% That’s exactly it. Learning to live and deal with things was by far the priority but now that I’m back at home, I can really focus on my resettlement. I’ve already done a number of courses.

I’ve been very lucky with the connections I’ve made over the past years, Blesma and everybody else. I’m doing a lot of after dinner speaking, trying to help raise funds in that way, which I’m enjoying.

I would like to teach in a sixth form college. I’m very pro Armed Forces and emergency services and everything that they’ve given me. I want to try and give back and teach people about all the good things they do. I would also like to open my own gym designed for use by people with disabilities.

Can you tell me about Blesma Connects? One of it’s primary aims is to tackle social isolation among Veterans…

As a community, one thing we’re not good at, is asking for help. We’re very very good at just ‘cracking on’ and making the best of things, but sometimes you need that help, that piece of advice. It opens new avenues for people. My favourite part of Blesma Connects is the Chat function. If you have an issue, you can go there and ask for help that way. I think it’s a fantastic initiative.

You’ve been through a lot during your resettlement. What might your advice be for other service-leavers?

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, making mistakes isn’t a bad thing because you learn so much.