Shropshire Star

Army radio shortage 'nearly killed Shropshire war hero'

A former Army officer has claimed Shropshire war hero Ricky Furgusson, who suffered horrific injuries in a bomb blast in Afghanistan, could have lost his life because of a lack of radios.

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Shropshire war hero Ricky Furgusson with the Queen

Major Richard Streatfeild, who presented a series of Radio 4 dispatches from the frontline, has admitted misleading the public in his broadcasts by playing down the full scale of the kit crisis affecting troops.

Corporal Ricky Furgusson

Now, in a hard-hitting new book, he says a lack of radios nearly led to Corporal Furgusson, 28, from Telford, losing his life.

In his memoir, Honourable Warriors, Major Streatfeild describes the incident in which Corporal Fergusson lost both legs, an eye and fingers on both hands as a turning point for him and his colleagues.

He uses the horrific episode as an example of the difficulties British forces faced while fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Major Streatfeild, who was awarded an MBE by the Queen for his service to the Army, describes in graphic detail how Corporal Furgusson stepped on an improvised explosive device in the early hours of January 13, 2010, causing appalling injuries.

He says: "Both his legs were missing; five of ten digits from his hands were gone or partly gone, as was a good deal of the flesh from his wrists.

"The force of the IED had picked him up and smashed his head against a wall.

"Sergeant 'H' Henry charged down the road on his quad to pick him up. He was still alive, by a thread.

"The prospects for his continued survival were appalling. I began to wonder if death might not be more merciful."

The chances of getting medical attention to Corporal Furgusson were severely compromised by a lack of radio coverage, Major Streatfeild claims, adding: "In the aftermath, I finally shouted as loudly as I could about the acute deficiency of radios.

"The lack of radios had almost caused a critical delay in getting Furgie treatment.

"By luck, a rifleman on a personal radio had been able to relay to a guard post that was able to relay to the ops room what was going on."

Major Streatfeild goes on to describe the first meeting with Corporal Furgusson, from Stirchley, after the incident.

He says: "It was mid-February by the time I was home on leave and could see Furgie again.

"He had taken days to become medically stable, then flew back to Birmingham in a medically induced coma from which he had been woken some time in late January.

"We got to Birmingham after 1pm; no time for lunch just straight in. Bad idea. I glanced over at Ricky lying on the bed.

'Holy s***,' I thought, as I turned away to take off my jacket and compose myself.

"'Alright, Corporal F?' I said.

"'Al'iit iir'. Ricky was speaking through a tracheotomy halfway up his neck.

"His right eye, glazed, and looking frankly pretty manic, stared out following the conversation.

"The other empty socket was covered in gauze. The bed lay flat where his legs should have been. He proffered his available semi-digitised hand to shake, which I carefully held.

"Hypersensitivity kicked in. I was in trouble. I made it downstairs into the fresh air.

"'Bugger me.' I thought it might be different. I lit a fag. Another bad idea. I began to walk back inside. Light-headed from the cigarette, I went down in a dead faint.

"I was soon back in the land of the living, feeling rather embarrassed. Still, better to have come than not."

Major Streatfeild, 41, speaks emotionally about the remarkable recovery that allowed Corporal Furgusson to collect a Military Cross for bravery.

He says: "Eleven months later, Ricky climbed aboard his full prosthetic legs for the first time to have his Military Cross pinned to his chest by the Queen. It was, and still is, a remarkable story of survival and recovery."

Corporal Furgusson, of the 4th Battalion The Rifles, lost both legs, an eye and fingers on both hands in the bomb blast.

He won the Military Cross – which is awarded for "an act or acts of exemplary gallantry" — for going to the aid of wounded soldiers injured by improvised explosive devices four times.

Close family, including parents Tracy and Paul Furgusson, welcomed him home after recuperation at Headley Court, Surrey. The soldier, who was not available for comment today, has continued his recovery and carried the Olympic flame in 2012.

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