A Shropshire soldier seriously injured when his vehicle drove over a roadside bomb in Afghanistan was amazed to find the medic sent to his rescue was a former school friend.

Captain Anthony Harris, 28, was thrown from his vehicle when a landmine exploded under his vehicle last week.

To his relief a team of life-saving medics arrived to airlift him to hospital including his former school friend, doctor Major Matt Boylan.

Both men knew each other when they were pupils at Adams Grammar School in Newport.

Major Boylan, 30, who spent six months with Midlands Air Ambulance based at Cosford before leaving for Afghanistan two weeks ago, described the moment he realised that he knew his patient.

“Obviously I didn’t recognise him initially – he was upside down to me and he didn’t recognise me because he had quite a lot of medication on board,” he said.

“We recognised each other on the ambulance and realised we were actually in school together.”

Father-of-two Captain Harris suffered a broken elbow and both feet but remained conscious throughout.

He was given morphine to relieve his pain as he was flown from the scene.

Dr Matt Boylan

Captain Harris, speaking from his hospital bed in Afghanistan, said: “I don’t remember the bang – I remember being on the bed.

“When you’re on-board you’re surrounded by people who you know are specialists so it felt really good to have made it there and you know once you’re on that helicopter they are going to keep you in a good way so it was massively comforting.”

Captain Harris has now had an early return home to recuperate and he had an extra special welcome from his three-week-old daughter, Emily, who he met for the first time.

Now recovering from his injuries in Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham, Captain Harris added: “They came and landed in somewhere where it was still unsafe when they came in to land and you cannot ask for more than that.”

Major Boylan’s father, Mike, from Newport, said the rescue was part of his first mission since arriving in Afghanistan.

He said: “I think he is doing a superb job really and one that keeps the troops going because they know they will be picked up in the golden hour, but sadly a lot do not make it.”

By Kirsty Smallman