Blesma News
Latest news from Blesma, The Limbless Veterans
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"I've never given up in my life - I'm a Gunner!"
26 February 2021
When Blesma Member Stanley Morgan was admitted to the Royal Surrey Hospital with severe Covid symptoms, lead Chaplain Adrian Teare spent time with him. This is his account of Stanley's story... You can’t see it,” says Stanley, his eyes glistening with the heavy tears of a long life ebbing and flowing through each breath. “You can’t see it,” he says again, gripping my gloved hand, “but I’m travelling to Jill now!” The clock has long since struck 8pm and the clapping has finished. The wards are hushed on Stanley’s last night in hospital, and his excitement can’
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Meet Blesma Member Scott Yarrington
22 February 2021
Scott Yarrington, 35, from Birmingham, served with the Irish Guards from 2005 to 2013. He was injured by an IED blast in Afghanistan in 2010 which resulted in him losing both legs above the knee, as well as seriously injuring an arm. Almost a decade after sustaining his life-changing injuries, we caught up with him to talk about rehabilitation, rebuilding his life, and the importance of Remembrance... Tell us a bit about your military career... I’d wanted to be a soldier for as long as I could remember – I tried to join up whe
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A live talk with Captain Craig
19 February 2021
At 2pm on the 25th of February Blesma Member Craig Wood, who became a triple-amputee aged 18 before setting off to sail the world solo, will be giving a live Zoom talk to Blesma Members. This is his story... “I had always wanted to join the British Army. I signed up at 17 and loved it straight away, it was the lifestyle that I really enjoyed. I deployed to Sangin, in Afghanistan, in April 2009, three days after my 18th birthday. Three months in, I got blown up. We had been out on a routine patrol when we stopped for a drink. When we set off again, I remember wa
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Garden given new lease of Life
18 February 2021
Injured Veteran Leigh Wilburn's garden was given a Blesma makeover, allowing him and his family some quality time outdoors during lockdown. “Before the makeover, the garden was awful,” said Leigh, who served in the Royal Armoured Corps for seven years. “There was no grass and the kids couldn’t play outside because of the mess. I started to get stressed seeing how bad it was.” A call from Blesma Welfare Rep Helen Cullen in April set the ball rolling, and by June the garden was finally re-turfed. Leigh and his children have since been
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