2023
The Blesma News for 2023 covering news, activities and fundraising events for limbless veterans.
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New Research: Understanding how you use assisted technology in your everyday life
24 May 2023
Calling all Members and their families! Do you use a wheelchair, scooter or hand cycle? If so, we want to hear from you to inform a new piece of research. This Office for Veterans Affairs funded research project wants to find out from you about your everyday living experiences with assistive technologies. In particular, we want to understand the effectiveness of different assistive technologies used by veterans who are wheelchair/EVP-users. What will taking part involved? You are inv
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Congratulations to Blesma Member Hari Budha Magar on making history!
22 May 2023
The Gurkha veteran, who lost both of his legs in Afghanistan - has accomplished the impossible and made mountaineering history by reaching the top of Mount Everest! In doing so becoming the first double leg amputee to reach the top of the world. Hari embarked on this monumental climb on 17 April, marking precisely 13 years since he tragically lost his legs in an IED explosion during his service in Afghanistan. Battling freezing conditions and enduring an agonizing wait of 18 days at the Everest base camp for clear weather, Hari and his courageous team witnessed the h
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Injured interpreter on path to realising Paralympic goal
1 May 2023
An Afghan interpreter who lost his sight whilst working for the British Army in Afghanistan is getting ever closer to his Invictus and Paralympic dreams thanks to Blesma. Wali Noori, 35, was working as a translator and cultural advisor on the front line for the British Armed Forces when he was caught in an IED blast in September 2009. “My family were starving and needed food. I had to have a job, so I went to one of the British Forces’ offices in Kabul to get a job as an interpreter,” said Wali. “When the Taliban detonated that IED, I was thrown up into the sky. I landed on my back a
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Leaving Statement - Blesma Chief Executive
27 April 2023
I am writing to let you know that our Chief Executive, Jon Bryant, is leaving the Charity after just over three years in the role. As you are aware, Jon has helped steer Blesma through the Covid pandemic while strengthening a number of our policies and practices in support of our Members. He leaves the organisation in great shape, with an excellent reputation across the sector for knowing its Members personally, reinforcing the friendships between them, representing their interests and quickly providing expert advice and assistance. Whilst we are disappointed to see him leave the A
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