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Soldier battles for front-line return




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A soldier wants to be an inspiration to others by becoming only the second amputee to return to active duty.

Lance-corporal Jono Lee (25) of Coddington, had his right leg amputated below the knee three weeks after being seriously injured in Afghanistan when the armoured vehicle he was travelling in hit a land mine.

His heart stopped twice during efforts to save him, and he was revived firstly in a helicopter en route back to base and again on the operating table.

He is continuing to be treated at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre, Headley Court, Surrey, and, despite his injuries, is keen to return to the front line.

“I feel as if I’ve let down my mates so when they go back I want to be right there with them,” Lance-corporal Lee said.

“No British soldier wants to leave a tour uncompleted.”

His battalion, the 2nd Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment, is due to return to Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, next year.

Despite the odds — only one other amputee has returned to active service — Lance-corporal Lee, who has family in Newark, wants to rejoin his colleagues.

He was not scared by the prospect, and hoped his determination to overcome his disability could become an inspiration to others.

“I don’t see myself as an inspiration but I want to be. I want them to see, want everyone to see, that losing a limb isn’t the end of your life,” Lance-corporal Lee said.

“I want them to say: ‘OK, well it could happen to me, I might lose an arm or a leg, but if he can go back then so can I.’

“And, if I said part of it wasn’t to get back at the Taliban for this, I would be lying.”

Lance-corporal Lee moved to the Newark area about six years ago.

He has been in the Army for eight years, and previously served two tours of duty in Iraq.

On Tuesday, after spending a few days at home, he returned to Headley Court, where he has learned to walk using a prosthetic leg.

The centre is also where he met his girlfriend, Pippa Morris (19) the nurse who tends his injuries.

His rehabilitation has also prompted another love — of sailing.

Lance-corporal Lee joined a leading sailing team, Pindar, for the Artemis Challenge around the Isle of Wight last week.

Pindar won the contest, which involved professional sailors.

Lance-corporal Lee, and fellow amputee Chris Herbert, of the 3rd Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment, are part of the new Toe In The Water sailing initiative, which aims to help motivate injured Servicemen and women at Headley Court.

In windy conditions, the two first-time sailors helped the crew of the 60ft Pindar yacht to a comfortable win, finishing five minutes ahead of the second-placed team.

Lance-corporal Lee said he was now addicted to sailing, and his next challenge would take him from the Canary Islands to Barbados.

If Lance-corporal Lee cannot return to Afghanistan with his regiment he hopes to train to become a PE or history teacher.

The first amputee to return to active service was Corporal Stuart Hale (26) of 3 Para, who returned to service two years after losing a leg to a land mine.



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