Telford soldier Ricky Furgusson today said he was delighted that he would be carrying the Olympic flame next year.

Furgusson, who spent more than four months in hospital in Birmingham recovering from injuries suffered in Afghanistan, has received extensive recognition for his bravery. He went to the aid of wounded soldiers who had been injured by Improvised Explosive Devices on four separate occasions.

The 26-year-old was hurt on his first patrol in Sangin District in October 2009 when he was hit by a huge Improvised Explosive Device. Other members of his squad, the 4th Battalion The Rifles, suffered potentially fatal injuries and Furgusson immediately rushed to their aid, with no thought for his own welfare. He saved another man’s life by assisting in his evacuation.

A month later, Corporal Furgusson helped two colleagues from a nearby patrol who had been hit by an IED. On the same day, his own patrol was hit by an IED, grievously injuring a fellow soldier who was blown through the air. Furgusson gave assistance, despite the threat of further IEDs, to ensure the badly injured man was reached. At the end of 2009, Corporal Furgusson managed to stabilise and evacuate a soldier who had been injured in an IED explosion, though the man later died.

 However, in January 2010, Corporal Furgusson was struck by an IED and suffered extensive injuries. He said: “Helping other people is just the way I’m trained. If someone is injured you go to them, that’s the first thing you do, you get in there and try to keep the bloke alive. You’re taught how to keep people alive to the best of your ability. Everybody will react in different ways, some will be scared, but I just wanted to get over there and help people.”

He received the Military Cross and is Citation read: “Furgusson’s bravery, personally ignoring the ever-present IED threat when dashing to the aid of wounded men, and his outstanding leadership, time and again rallying soldiers in the disorientating aftermath of IED strikes, saved men’s lives. For his selfless actions he is to be awarded the MC.”

Corporal Furgusson said: “I’m happy with my medal but to me it should have been for my team, the lads on the ground, because we all did things. You can’t do things on your own. It was the team. I was shocked at first to find that I was getting the MC. I’m very pleased. I had a slight inkling I might get an award but an MC was totally out of the window and I wasn’t expecting that at all. I don’t think it has quite sunk in at all and it won’t until I walk into Buckingham Palace.” Corporal Furgusson, a former pupil of Lord Silkin School, has received other awards and accolades. He met former England Football Captain David Beckham and his son, Brooklyn, in London, when he collected a Life Saver award at the Night of Heroes ceremony.

Corporal Furgusson recently remembered the moment he was blown up.
“We all went inside a building and occupied it and as we left the building, which had already been cleared, we walked out thinking it was clear.
“Unfortunately it wasn’t, there was something there that couldn’t have been laid as we entered, it was already there, and unfortunately I hit it. An improvised Explosive Device in the doorway. “I obviously don’t remember getting hit, but I lost both legs above the knee, five fingers, my left eye has gone, all my lips are now reconstructed with skin grafts and the side of my face is reconstructed.”

Follow the Flame around the UK all the way to the London Games

The Olympic Games are heading for London in just under eight months’ time and Lloyds TSB is backing the great occasion every step of the way.
As the National Presenting Partner of the Olympic Torch Relay, Lloyds TSB is making sure as many people as possible in the UK see the Olympic Flame.
The London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay will be a 70-day celebration that will see the Olympic Flame carried across the length and breadth of the UK all the way to the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The Olympic Flame will be lit in Olympia, Greece, before arriving in the UK on May 18, 2012. It will be carried across the UK by 8,000 inspirational Torchbearers on a relay through towns and cities coming within a one-hour journey for 95 per cent of the population, past famous sights and landmarks, before arriving at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games on July 27 2012.
The street-level route will be revealed a few weeks before the relay passes through each community.

Special sponsored feature brought to you by Lloyds TSB and Shropshire Star