One-legged Croydon sniper ready for more action (From Your Local Guardian)

One-legged Croydon sniper ready for more action

7:30am Friday 14th November 2008 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(5)

A soldier who lost his leg after being blown up by a landmine in Afghanistan is set to return to active service as a sniper.

Corporal Simon Wiggins, 22, made a miraculous and speedy recovery from his war injuries and now wants to get back to the front line.

Just six months after his horrific injury he began work as an army recruitment officer, but will now rejoin his sniper regiment.

He said: “It is what I enjoy. The first thing I wanted to do after the accident was be a sniper again.

“Just because I am injured it does not stop me wanting to do it. It is the best job in the world.

“I love the job – I just don’t like being blown up.”

The highly-trained sniper, who won a Croydon Champions’ bravery award last week, was just two weeks away from returning home to his family in Coulsdon when the tragedy happened in March.

He had been deployed in the Helmand Province in Afghanistan since October 2007 and was completing the end of his tour in Garmsir, near the border with Pakistan.

The blast from the buried mine blew out his knee, and his stomach, legs and face were riddled with shrapnel.

Cpl Wiggins lost four pints of blood in 30 seconds. He was taken by helicopter to Camp Bastion where he was in surgery for 11 hours, cleaning the base out of their supply of AB positive blood.

By 9pm on March 17, he was back in the UK and had his leg amputated.

Despite the accident, Cpl Wiggins is determined to get back out to Afghanistan and rejoin his lifesaving comrades, who are due for another six-month tour in September next year.

He said: “The regiment is due out next year and I am sure they will ask me to come.

“They are a quality bunch of lads. They were the ones who looked after me when the incident happened.

“They have been really influential in the decision asking me to come back. I can’t wait to get back to doing as much as possible.”

He said his family were also behind his decision and were happy for him.

Cpl Wiggins will join the regiment after Christmas, mainly in an advisory and instruction role for other snipers.

He is hoping to progress to sniper-related intelligence work which he said would be “really cool”.

• Want to become one of our community correspondents? Log on to our Your Say section, click here to email Diana Jarvis or phone 020 8330 9592.