Janet Riddell joined the Royal Navy in 1990 as a naval clerk.

She was involved in a helicopter crash during a posting to Baghdad, sustaining injuries that led to her becoming a through-knee amputee. She now spends her time supporting other amputees, Service personnel and civilians.

“I initially joined up as a Radar Operator in March 1983. I was only 16 years old and when I arrived for training,
I felt totally overwhelmed. I just wasn’t ready to join up and had to go home the next day.

“I started work as an account clerk and later applied to join the Greater Manchester Police, but I loved the sea and had a burning desire to travel, so I applied for the Royal Navy again. I joined in January 1990. Heather Betts, Blesma’s former Director Independence and Wellbeing, was my Divisional Officer and was fantastic.

“I completed my training at the Old Royal Naval Academy and began my career with postings on HMS Centurion and HMS Sultan. In 1994, I was posted to HMS Tamar in Hong Kong.

“On my return, I played for the Royal Navy football team and, in 1998, I volunteered for sea. My first ship was HMS Westminster. We went to Sierra Leone and I remember it being horrendous. A lot of the ship’s company struggled with mental health problems because of what we saw. It was hard to deal with, and I see a psychologist now because I have a lot of nightmares.”

“After HMS Westminster, I was posted to the Second Sea Lord’s Office and, in 2002, I went on my next sea draft on HMS Endurance. I went to Antarctica, all around South America, the Caribbean, the Bahamas, the United States, and The Falklands.

“In 2005, I was told I was going to Baghdad. Two months in, I was travelling in a Black Hawk when we were shot down by small arms fire. I really damaged my knees, which were already hurt from a cruciate ligament injury I’d picked up playing football for the Navy years before. I stayed in Iraq for a couple of months, but my right knee would click in and out. I went straight to Selly Oak when I got back and was told the only treatment was a knee replacement.

“I was eventually called in front of the Medical Board of Survey and was medically discharged on 21 May 2008. After several corrective and reconstruction operations, and years of pain, my right leg was amputated through the knee in December 2017.”

“I wanted something positive to come from my amputation, so I held a ‘guess the weight of my leg’ fundraiser for Blesma, the Royal Navy Benevolent Fund and SSAFA – The Armed Forces Charity. I raised £1,700 and have fundraised for the Association ever since. Blesma has been brilliant to me. Without the Association, I don’t think I’d be in the positive frame of mind that I am in now. I have survivor’s guilt from Sierra Leone, so helping other people helps me mentally – I get a sense of fulfilment from it.

“When I joined Blesma in 2016, I became a member of the Portsmouth Branch straight away and recently helped out as the Secretary. I also took up a post as a Welfare Representative. Throughout Covid, I rang Members and delivered DVDs and food. I also sat with one Member who was dying from cancer. I helped his wife at the time and still check in with her now.

“I’m also the patient representative at Portsmouth’s Enablement Centre. When a new amputee patient joins, they are given my number in case they want someone to talk to. We all meet up about once a month. I take them swimming, and I also teach Blesma and civilian amputees how to swim.

“The welfare work takes up a lot of my time, but it makes me happy seeing a smile on someone’s face.”