Signet Library...

11.11.11 - I will not forget.

I had a meeting in the Signet Library at Parliament Square in Edinburgh today, we're holding our event there next Friday. I took my camera with me and took a few shots while we were there. They were setting up for the W.S. Society Dinner tonight. It truly is one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever been in. I shall perhaps take some more photos next week.

Better bigger...

The meeting was at 11am but we were a little late as we stood outside the City Chambers and observed the silence as a mark respect of those who have fought for our country. It doesn't quite seem enough.

I want to tell you about my friend Paul in today's blip. You may have seen him on TV in the advert for the Poppy (he smiles a WHOLE lot more in real life!). He was injured in Afghanistan, lost both his legs and had a variety of other injuries to cope with. Paul is an amazing person, I shall ask if I can blip him when I see him in a couple of weeks for our Christmas night out with the girls... eleven girls and him. It's always been that way, he's a bit like one of the girls and his beautiful fiancé Gillian, doesn't bat an eyelid at him going out with the girls. Brave or stupid? Well a bit of both really but mostly he's the bravest person I know. To have gone through what he's been through and still be smiling makes my days like yesterday seem beyond pathetic.

When we visited him in hospital in Birmingham, a couple of months after it happened, we had no idea what sort of state he'd be in or what to expect. When we arrived at the hospital we asked the nurse where we could find him and she told us that he was up at the end of the ward with a massive smile. Sure enough, there he was, grinning at us just like the Paul we knew. Nothing had changed in that respect, he was upbeat and laughing and full of mischief as per usual. When we said that we weren't sure what to bring him, he said that some socks would have been good! He has certainly not lost his sense of humour. Nor has he lost perspective. It gave us some. It was one of the most humbling experiences of my life, seeing the boys in the ward alongside him with a variety of injuries. Paul told us that he was one of the lucky ones.

I asked him if he would go back and do it again and without hesitation he said that he would go back in a flash, that's what he was meant to do. That takes balls. Balls that I have never seen. Of course, he did regale us with the story of the moment his boys found him after he had been hit by an IED, not least by him hearing someone shout "get his legs" and then him asking his Sergeant whether his manhood was still in tact, if not he advised his superior officer just to 'shoot him now!' His humour and his upbeat, positive attitude have helped him overcome issues that you and I can probably not even begin to imagine.

I managed not to cry the whole time, until he told us about his proposal to Gillian on Christmas Day. He'd sent his Dad out to buy a ring and told us that he'd asked the nurse to lower the bed for him... "well it's not like I can get down on one knee now is it?" he said! I blubbed like a girl!

He's recovering well, although I'm sure he has his off days but I've never seen him anything other than upbeat and cheerful. He has since completed the Arnhem Bike Ride (325 miles) on a specially customised bike to raise money for Help for Heroes. You can read about him here.

Paul is one of the most awesome people I know and I'm privileged to call him my friend.

I will never forget.