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09-03-2010, 02:58 PM
'Most severely injured' British soldier in Afghanistan arrives home to hero's welcome after nine months in hospital
By Daily Mail Reporter (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Daily+Mail+Reporter)
Last updated at 1:08 PM on 3rd September 2010
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http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/03/article-1308650-0B063A67000005DC-466_233x404.jpg Hero: Warrant Officer Ken Bellringer (centre) surrounded by, clockwise from top left, his mother Iris, father Ray, wife Chris, and children Neeve and Harry
A bomb-disposal expert described as the most severely wounded survivor of the Afghanistan war has returned home for the first time.
Warrant Officer Ken Bellringer, 38, was given a 10 per cent chance of surviving horrific injuries after being caught up in a blast that killed a colleague he had gone to help.
He lost both legs above the knee, his thumbs, the little finger on his left hand, and suffered a shattered pelvis and muscle damage to his arms.
But now nine months after he was injured Warrant Officer Bellringer has returned to his home town where he was given a hero's welcome.
Family and friends put out the bunting and waved Union flags as he arrived home in Balderton, near Newark, Notts.
His mother, Mrs Iris Bellringer, said: 'I have waited for this day for such a long time. I am very proud of him.'
His father Ray Bellringer said: 'His bravery and determination to overcome his injuries is very humbling.'
The hero soldier was also greeted by members of the Newark Patriotic Fund, which provides care for wounded local soldiers.
The fund helped Warrant Officer Bellringer and his family by paying for a holiday for his wife, Mrs Chris Bellringer, 40, and children Neeve, 11, and Harry, 7, to Euro Disney, Paris.
It also paid for a stairlift at his parents' home for when their son visits and provided transport for them to see him in hospital.
Warrant Officer Bellringer said modestly: 'I am just someone who has been somewhere and done a job and has been unfortunate.
'Then I have got the privilege of people putting money in the Patriotic Fund, people helping us, and children sending messages.
'When you are in your dark days and don?t feel like doing this, you feel you have got to because you don't want to let people down.'
Also sharing the homecoming was local MP, Patrick Mercer, who said: 'It is a sad boast that the town has the single most injured survivor of the Afghanistan conflict.
But I suspect there are more wounded soldiers to come.'
Warrant Officer Bellringer, of 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment, Royal Logistics Corps, was helping a colleague when he was wounded.
Corporal Loren Marlton-Thomas had become stuck in mud while his team was clearing Improvised Explosive Devices in the Gereshk area of Helmand on November 15, last year.
Warrant Officer Bellringer said: "Loren's last words were: 'No, I'm really stuck.'
'I remember chuckling as I went to help him. It was quite a light-hearted moment. I just walked up to him -the area had been searched and I had faith in my colleagues.
'I grabbed him behind his elbows to heave him out and I remember putting my foot forward to brace myself, then there was an almighty explosion.
'I landed and it took the wind out of me. I instinctively knew I had lost my legs but I didn't know what the damage was.'
Corporal Marlton-Thomas, 28, suffered serious wounds and died the next day.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1308650/Most-severely-injured-British-soldier-Afghanistan-Ken-Bellringer-arrives-home.html#ixzz0yUiNel8D
By Daily Mail Reporter (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Daily+Mail+Reporter)
Last updated at 1:08 PM on 3rd September 2010
Comments (9) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1308650/Most-severely-injured-British-soldier-Afghanistan-Ken-Bellringer-arrives-home.html#comments)
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1308650/Most-severely-injured-British-soldier-Afghanistan-Ken-Bellringer-arrives-home.html)
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/03/article-1308650-0B063A67000005DC-466_233x404.jpg Hero: Warrant Officer Ken Bellringer (centre) surrounded by, clockwise from top left, his mother Iris, father Ray, wife Chris, and children Neeve and Harry
A bomb-disposal expert described as the most severely wounded survivor of the Afghanistan war has returned home for the first time.
Warrant Officer Ken Bellringer, 38, was given a 10 per cent chance of surviving horrific injuries after being caught up in a blast that killed a colleague he had gone to help.
He lost both legs above the knee, his thumbs, the little finger on his left hand, and suffered a shattered pelvis and muscle damage to his arms.
But now nine months after he was injured Warrant Officer Bellringer has returned to his home town where he was given a hero's welcome.
Family and friends put out the bunting and waved Union flags as he arrived home in Balderton, near Newark, Notts.
His mother, Mrs Iris Bellringer, said: 'I have waited for this day for such a long time. I am very proud of him.'
His father Ray Bellringer said: 'His bravery and determination to overcome his injuries is very humbling.'
The hero soldier was also greeted by members of the Newark Patriotic Fund, which provides care for wounded local soldiers.
The fund helped Warrant Officer Bellringer and his family by paying for a holiday for his wife, Mrs Chris Bellringer, 40, and children Neeve, 11, and Harry, 7, to Euro Disney, Paris.
It also paid for a stairlift at his parents' home for when their son visits and provided transport for them to see him in hospital.
Warrant Officer Bellringer said modestly: 'I am just someone who has been somewhere and done a job and has been unfortunate.
'Then I have got the privilege of people putting money in the Patriotic Fund, people helping us, and children sending messages.
'When you are in your dark days and don?t feel like doing this, you feel you have got to because you don't want to let people down.'
Also sharing the homecoming was local MP, Patrick Mercer, who said: 'It is a sad boast that the town has the single most injured survivor of the Afghanistan conflict.
But I suspect there are more wounded soldiers to come.'
Warrant Officer Bellringer, of 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment, Royal Logistics Corps, was helping a colleague when he was wounded.
Corporal Loren Marlton-Thomas had become stuck in mud while his team was clearing Improvised Explosive Devices in the Gereshk area of Helmand on November 15, last year.
Warrant Officer Bellringer said: "Loren's last words were: 'No, I'm really stuck.'
'I remember chuckling as I went to help him. It was quite a light-hearted moment. I just walked up to him -the area had been searched and I had faith in my colleagues.
'I grabbed him behind his elbows to heave him out and I remember putting my foot forward to brace myself, then there was an almighty explosion.
'I landed and it took the wind out of me. I instinctively knew I had lost my legs but I didn't know what the damage was.'
Corporal Marlton-Thomas, 28, suffered serious wounds and died the next day.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1308650/Most-severely-injured-British-soldier-Afghanistan-Ken-Bellringer-arrives-home.html#ixzz0yUiNel8D