2020
The Blesma News for 2020 covering news, activities and fundraising events for limbless veterans.
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Dunkirk 80: Remembering Bert Evans
31 May 2020
Blesma Member Bert Evans, who died in 2013 aged 92, was one of the last survivors of the massacre at Wormhoudt, near the Franco-Belgian border, during the withdraw to Dunkirk 80 years ago this year. Bert was serving with D Company 2nd Battalion the Royal Warwickshire Regiment (2 Royal Warwicks) which, on 19 May 1940, came under a devastating air attack near Tournai, suffering many casualties. A week later the Royal Warwicks were ordered to hold the village of Wormhoudt to buy time for the evacuation of thousands of soldiers of the B
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Blesma Member Dean is battling Coronavirus on the frontline
30 May 2020
Former Royal Air Force Senior Aircraftman Dean Mills has been serving on the Coronavirus frontline after being called up to help in a major hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The 49-year-old Blesma Member, who left the forces after a serious climbing accident, has been working 13-hours shifts with up to 11 hours spent in full protective gear and face mask. Dean, who was in the RAF for ten years, is now a key ICU team member at St. James’ Hospital in Leeds, a regional centre for treating Covid-19 patients. “It has been very tough. We have lost some pe
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Blesma at Home workout (Seated Session 2)
29 May 2020
Gregg Stevenson has devised a weekly home workout especially for his fellow Members, to help us keep our mind and bodies healthy during lock-down. "My name is Gregg and I am a Blesma Member that works at SMRC Preston (the prosthetics centre gym). We focus on the benefits that strength, fitness and mobility can bring to amputees and wheelchair users. I intend to develop several fitness sessions for you to try at home, with minimal equipment. I have been inspired by other Blesma Members, cracking on at this difficult time, and feel it would be beneficial for us all to
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After injury, Dale Leach often couldn’t leave his house. Then he had a chat with his BSO
27 May 2020
After Dale Leach was injured on operations in Afghanistan, he faced a quandary that will be familiar to many Blesma Members. With his military career cruelly cut short, and dealing with the physical and mental difficulties of amputation, what was he going to do next? “I was discharged from the Army at the end of 2013, and for a while I would just sit around the house, not knowing what to do with myself,” remembers Dale. “I was a mess; some days I wouldn’t even leave my room. My mum was in my ear telling me to look for a job, but I didn’t know where to go. I j
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