Injured county soldier commended
Saturday 25th April 2009, 12:44PM BST.
Corporal Simon Vaughan with son Ben and wife Donna
A Shropshire soldier injured while serving in Afghanistan has been commended for his service at a bedside ceremony.
Corporal Simon Vaughan, 24, of Hodnet, near Market Drayton, received his Afghanistan medal in the military ward at Birmingham’s Selly Oak Hospital at exactly the same time his colleagues from 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery received theirs at a ceremony in Plymouth.
He suffered a serious brain injury in December last year when a vehicle he was travelling in was driven over a roadside bomb in Helmand Province.
The father-of-one, a member of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, has still not regained full consciousness and is seriously ill but stable.
He was joined for the ceremony by wife Donna, 26, son Ben, six, mother Lynne and other close family and friends. The medal was presented by Lieutenant Colonel Colin McClean on April 17.
Mrs Vaughan said she was proud her husband was honoured for his service and bravery even during the illness.
“It was a lovely occasion and we were delighted to see Lieutenant Colonel McClean, and pleased that everyone had tried hard to make it a special day for Simon,” she said.
Simon’s mother Lynne said the day was “one of the saddest but proudest days of my life”.
His father Hughie said: “It was upsetting for me and my wife Liz but it made us so proud to watch him receive his medal.”
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I’m Simons mum and i have to say how dissapointed i was to read this article.
I actually read the statement that was mailed to you,and although it is true you once again left out some of the important information which has left Simons 6 year old son,(my grandson) devastated.He now thinks daddy is never going to get better,all because you failed to add to the article the prognosis for simons recovery, and most upsetting for Ben was the fact you didnt quote what ben himself had said about how proud he was of his daddy!!!!!!
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