Unforgettable: TV advert » The story of Private Paul Lambert is told in the 2011 Scottish Poppy Appeal television advert. Paul explains why your support is Unforgettable.
After a spell as a stonemason Paul followed the family tradition and joined 1 SCOTS in 2006. His great-grandfather and grandfather served with the Royal Scots in World War I and World War II respectively.
In 2008, after training in Catterick Paul was sent to Basra, Iraq, where he spent six months attached to the Scots Guards.
On 1 October 2009 Paul embarked on a six-month tour of Afghanistan – carrying out foot patrols in the Wishtan Bazaar area of eastern Sangin, Helmand Province – the most heavily IED-ridden part of the district.
On 29 November, Paul was on a foot patrol on an intelligence-gathering exercise with members of the Afghan National Army. They had focused their attention on a small mosque and began to clear a space in a compound near the building. It took 35 minutes to clear the immediate area using metal detectors and then Paul began a process known as ‘grand nationalising’ – where soldiers use ladders to get up and over high compound walls.
Paul put his right foot on the bottom rung of the ladder but as his left foot touched it there was a mighty explosion. Underneath the ladder was a hidden IED, which was set off by his weight.
Paul said: “I felt the blast more than I heard it. I could feel heat on my hands and face and I was thrown from the ladder. I knew it was an IED. I could see through my hand and I realised I had lost a finger from my right hand.”
Immediately a rescue plan was in action. Medics delivered critical assistance to Paul and his colleagues began to clear the area to allow a helicopter to come in.
At this stage Paul didn’t know that he had lost both his legs. He recalls: “I remember my friend talking to me and someone shouting ‘grab his legs’ but I didn’t understand that they had gone.”
Within 25 minutes Paul was taken to Camp Bastion but the situation was one of life and death. He had suffered internal injuries and then his heart stopped. His chest had to be cut open and his heart manually massaged. He was told that if he was on the ground 30 seconds longer he would have died.
He was flown from Afghanistan to the UK where he spent three months in Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham, including 17 days in intensive care after he had an infection.
When he was moved to the ward from intensive care, Paul found it hard to accept that he no longer had his legs. His father had to break the news to him. It was then that Paul knew he wouldn’t be able to be an infantry soldier.
Paul wants to start a new life outside of the Army but will only be discharged when he is deemed fit and ready to leave. The care that he is receiving from the Army is excellent – in particular the Personnel Recovery Unit, who will guide him along his path to recovery. The PRU will assess Paul’s needs and will produce a tailor-made recovery plan that will help with access to medical assistance, for example occupational therapists, and links to training and educational organisations, charities and other government departments.
His family are right by his side too, supporting him, along with fiancée Gillian, to whom he proposed on Christmas Day. The couple have recently moved into a new home together.
Paul is about to go to Headley Court where he will be fitted with his prosthetic legs and will learn to walk again. With the support from his family, the Army and fellow soldiers at Headley Court Paul is optimistic about the future.
Paul also recognises the work of the ex-Service voluntary sector and, in particular, Poppyscotland. He said: “In the Army you give up a day’s wage for Poppyscotland and you have to wear your poppy every November.”
