Blesma News
Latest news from Blesma, The Limbless Veterans
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Steve has been bowled over by Blesma support
7 November 2022
Steve with his Blesma funded wheelchair Steve Pendleton lost his sight, his left leg and the hearing in his right ear in a helicopter crash 30 years ago while serving with 1st Battalion Royal Green Jackets in Northern Ireland.
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Three Members go on record to mark Blesma's 90th anniversary
4 November 2022
Go behind the scenes at the filming of Blesma’s 90th anniversary commemorative video. Can you hold your hands up in front of your face and clap once?” the video director asks Lamin Manneh as he prepares to start recording. Lamin looks down at his right hand and then across to where his left arm stops midway between his shoulder and where his elbow used to be. “No!” he replies. Cue an awkward pause, followed by profuse apologies from the video director that are drowned out by Lamin’s infectious belly laugh. It’s not the start you might expect to a day shooting a poignant film to com
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This year, Michael Mellon will captain Scotland in the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup
11 October 2022
The crunching sound of metal on metal fills the sports centre as wheelchairs smash headlong into each other. The repetitive collisions test the strength of the frames to the limit and send shockwaves through the players’ bones, muscles and tendons. And this is just the warm-up! Welcome to wheelchair rugby league; a sport played at heavy metal thunder levels in which an irresistible flow of action rages across an indoor sports arena, punctuated by feints, swerves and misdirection as well as a conveyor belt of crashes, smashes and tumbles from wheelchairs. It’s World Cup year for the s
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From needing help to helping others: Mark Smith's story
11 October 2022
Blesma Member Mark Smith has an incredible story to tell. Having signed up at 16 years of age with little-to-no education, he suffered with many mental health struggles post-service which nearly took his life. Then, a diagnosis set him on the right track. He got himself back up and back into education, eventually completing a post graduate diploma while dealing with the loss of his leg. Now, with help from Blesma, he runs his own counselling service to help other veterans. When I was 16, I joined up as a Junior Soldier with the Coldstream Guar
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