Injured Shropshire soldier visits home
Monday 28th March 2011, 10:17AM BST.
Shropshire soldier Corporal Simon Vaughan has made an emotional return to the county for the first time in two-and-a-half years after being badly injured in a bomb blast in Afghanistan.
The 26-year-old, from Hodnet, saluted the “welcome to Shropshire” sign as he paid a visit to family and friends near Childs Ercall at the weekend.
He enjoyed visits to see relatives and had a family barbecue.
Mr Vaughan, a married father-of-one, suffered a serious brain injury after the vehicle he was travelling in drove over an unexploded bomb while serving with the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers in December 2008.
Now he is battling his way back to health and defying doctors who treated him in the wake of the explosion.
They warned he might never be able to breathe unaided and could remain in a vegetative state – but determined Mr Vaughan, who was tipped by top brass for a role in the SAS, has overcome the odds and is now alert and breathing for himself.
Speaking through a special communication aid, Mr Vaughan, a former pupil at The Grove school in Market Drayton, said he was delighted to be back home.
He said: “It’s been a long time so I did a salute when I got back.
“I have been at Headley and I know it’s good for me there but I’ve hit the wall now. I miss the countryside.”
He said was looking forward to moving home permanently, possibly in May, to a bungalow at Ercall Heath, near Newport, where he plans to live with wife Donna, 28, and son Ben, eight.
l Hero — See Page 10
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We, as a nation, are indebted to your bravery, and to the bravery of other soldiers like you who endanger your lives for the peace of others.. We are very proud of you and may you continue to improve and live a fully and normal happy life. God bless.
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Very pleased the weekend went well, many more to come hopefully.
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