Blesma News
Latest news from Blesma, The Limbless Veterans
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Lieutenant-Colonel Jerome Church Obituary
10 August 2016
Jerome Church became chief executive of Blesma, the Limbless Veterans’ association, on the eve of two wars in which the loss of limbs became a concern almost comparable to that for fatal casualties. The insurgencies that followed the initial military successes in Iraq and Afghanistan featured widespread use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), imposing an insidious threat inhibiting deployment under fire and travel on and off roads. Church had lost a leg to an IED in Northern Ireland but found the determination and humour to live an almost normal life. This inspired him to help sh
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Passing of the charity’s National President, His Grace the Duke of Westminster.
10 August 2016
All at Blesma are deeply saddened to hear of the sudden passing of His Grace the Duke of Westminster, the charity’s National President. The Duke of Westminster became Blesma’s National President in the Summer of 1992, succeeding Sir Austin Bunch. His family had been associated with the Chester Branch for years beforehand, and the Duke was Patron of the branch before becoming National President. The Duke’s charitable endeavours and in particular his support for the Armed Forces will be greatly missed, and everyone at Blesma offers their sincere condolences to the Grosvenor fami
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Future care for the Blesma elderly
9 August 2016
The nature of demand for later life care has changed greatly in the last decade; residential care is occurring very late in life and people wish to be close to their families. The demand for residence at the Blackpool Home has fallen sharply as the World War Two generation sadly passes away. The Home hosted 30 residents in 2014, this year it has hosted only 13 Members and Widows despite opening the doors to Widows last year. 9 residents are from the North West; 30 miles radius is the recognised catchment area for a care home. The Home has bedrooms for 45 residents so it is running
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Wounded Veteran finds hero who saved his life
8 August 2016
After a 20-year search, Luke Delahunty has found the woman who saved his life after he was involved in a road traffic accident. On 3rd October 1996, Luke was serving in the RAF and was rushing back to the RAF Honington base. Whilst he was overtaking a line of traffic held up by a tractor, the tractor turned in front of him. The tractor, which was towing an 18-ton trailer, ran over Luke’s chest causing internal life threatening injuries. Fortunately Karen, a medic for St John’s Ambulance, was in one of the vehicles that Luke passed and gave Luke the help he
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