In the Media

Kitty Dimbleby, Mail on Sunday

It is only when Major David Bradley drinks from his glass of water that you really notice anything is wrong. Missing the trigger finger, and obviously scarred, his right hand is the only clear indication of his injuries.

Yet only three years ago he was wounded almost fatally in Basra. A company commander, Major Bradley, 38, was leading a mission to rescue some British soldiers who were cut off without support in the centre of town.

As they were fighting their way down 'red route', the road that runs through the centre of Basra, they were attacked. Major Bradley was hit by two Rocket Propelled Grenades.

Shrapnel tore though his hand, shoulder and chest, and he blast took out the lens of his left eye, shredding the cornea.
He was immediately evacuated to the field hospital where he was given a 5% chance of survival. There, in theatre, surgeons opened his chest and saved his life.

It is only now, three gruelling years on and after months in hospital and rehabilitation centres, that he is finally getting function and strength back to his right side. He still doesn't know if he will be able to return to the job he so obviously loves.

Major Bradley is one of 180 service men and women who are treated as in-patients at the MOD's rehabilitation centre, Headley Court, at any one time. Set in the Surrey countryside Headley Court is reached by a series of winding country lanes.

At gravelled driveway leads to the imposing main building - a mock Jacobean Building structure with red brick and climbing ivy. and the extensive gardens are framed by Topiary. It almost appears more like a country hotel than a military medical centre.

Last week the Mail on Sunday was granted unusual access to Headley Court.

The centre is undoubtedly an outstanding medical institution. Rehabilitating care is given to all service men and women - from a trooper with a twisted knee, sustained in training, to the more headline grabbing - an amputee, fresh from a war zone.

It is men like these that the Chief of General Staff, General Sir Richard Dannett was unusually outspoken about last week. In a speech to the International Institute for Strategic Studies he talked about a nation that is out of tune with it's military and of a generation of young men and women return from war feeling forgotten and misunderstand.

He urged the public to show their support to these men and women by digging deep and donating to Service Charities

Fittingly, a five million pound appeal is being launched tomorrow, backed by the General, to give the public this chance: 'Help For Heroes' is a new initiative hoping to raise funds to build a new gym and swimming pool complex at Headley Court.

The facility is already adequately equipped but there is room for improvement. The main building was built at the turn of the century and it became a military hospital sixty year ago. It now deals with on average XXXXX in-patients and 4000 day cases each year. A patient's stay can last anything from a couple of nights to six months and many have numerous admissions.

Headley Court has four well equipped gyms and the largest Hydrotherapy pool in the UK. But there is no full sized swimming pool.

This means that essential cardiovascular exercise is either carried out in the Hydrotherapy pool - which is really designed for calm, water based, physiotherapy. Or, shockingly, at the local public swimming pool.

The round trip takes up to two and a half hours and badly disabled men, soldiers with limbs missing, are forced to do their exercise very publically.

Improvements are being made all the time: Last May a new 30 bed ward was opened to help cope with increasing demand as the toll of injured in Afghanistan and Iraq rises. Headley Court hit the headlines last month when it brought a residential home for the families of injured troops.

People in the local village objected but the purchase went ahead. Now the 1.7 million pound property is being re-designed to host up to 8 relatives at an one time.

Last June an in-house prosthetics studio was created enabling patients to receive their state of the art prosthetic limbs quicker than they would in any NHS hospital.

But there are limits to the funds available. The unit costs XXXXX per year and priorities have to be made. There are plans to knock down two of the gyms and build the much needed swimming pool but without donations from the public's purse, this project will take years to realise .

So why does the public need to help, surely it is the MOD's responsibility? Former soldier Bryn Parry, the chairman of 'Help For Heroes', says not: 'No matter how much money is given by the MOD more can always be used. There is not a limitless supply of cash from our government which is why we have charities for all nature of things - from Cancer Research to the RSPCC.

'Headley Court is world class but it can be improved. They have a programme of planned work that without public support will take years to complete. If 'Help for Heroes' raises the desired amount we will be able to give our wounded servicemen and women the best facilities that money can buy, as quickly as they deserve.'

But it is not just about improving facilities as Bryn explains: 'The website for 'Help for Heroes' not only enables people to donate but also to post on line what they are doing to raise cash.

'There is also a page where members of the public can offer to 'help a hero' directly, this can take many forms from donating a pair of football tickets to sending a get well soon card. Professionals can also offer to give some of their time - for example a chef could teach a cooking class to some of the men at Headley Court.

'We hope that these gestures, no matter how small, will help show injured service men and women, and their families, quite how much they are appreciated by the British public.'

As he showed the Mail on Sunday round the grounds of Headley House Major General Mike Von Bertele, head of DMETA (Defence Medical Education and Training Agency) acknowledged the importance of this: 'It makes a big difference to soldiers to feel that people want to do things for them, that the public wants to show it's appreciation and support. They are brave men and they don't ask for much, but a little bit a recognition raises moral hugely'

He is proud of the men and women being treated at Headley Court and rightly so. Dubbed the 'Hospital for Heroes' it is an apt nickname. In the first gym the Mail on Sunday is taken into relatively able-bodied men work out alongside soldiers with prosthetic limbs.

Some are badley scarred and ones has burns to the visible parts of his body - they are getting on with their exercise with no complaints. Most don't want to be photographed.

'It's not out of any vanity of embarrassment.' Explains second in command at the unit, Major Andy Neaves; 'more that they don't want a fuss.

'When the men come HC they are here to rehabilitate, to get themselves fighting fit again and, when possible straight back to work. They see this as their job, their office if you like, so don't want to be treated as though they are special.'

This is very much a military facility: In the hydrotherapy pool a group of soldiers are put through their paces by an army personal trainer. Orders are barked and the men are working hard.'This is a cardiovascular work out for an 'early knee group'' Major Neave, a trained physiotherapist, explains.

'When the men and women arrive at HC they are put in small groups of 12 - 15 according to the type and severity of their injury. This enables them to work together as a team to get better and then fit again. Of course because they are soldiers there is come competitiveness within the groups but we find that that is a good thing.'

In the 'Battle of Britain' gym, such comradely competitiveness is evident: A group lie on their fronts on the floor in a circle, using their breath to blow a ping pong ball back and forth. If the ping pong ball hits a soldier's mat - blown there by a team mate - they have to do three press ups.

The men (and one woman) are having fun; joshing one member as he does his second lot of press-ups. 'This exercise has obvious benefits to upper body strength and breathing control but typically the lads have a laugh with it as well,' points out Major Neave.

The attention to detail in prosthetic workshop is incredible, here an engineer puts finishing touches to a prosthetic leg. The carbon fibre case, which envelops the patient's thigh, is camouflage green rather than the normal flesh coloured. 'When we make the final leg for the guy they can chose what design they want,' explains Chief Technician Stu Tilbury, 'some go for this, others their football colours, or the British flag.'

The seven strong team in the workshop are former RAF technicians who have been re-trained, they are led by a prosthetics specialist. All the legs are made in-house enabling patients to get their first leg, and subsequent replacements, as quickly as possible - sometimes within 48 hours of arrival at Headley Court.

'The first few legs are less complex; 'those are just the ones the guys learn to walk on' says Tilbury, 'but once rehabilitation is almost complete, and the prosthetic wont need to be changed as regularly, we get them the best and most high tech available. Finally most of the men will have three limbs; one for everyday, one for sports activities and one for swimming.'

The equipment is very advanced. Two limbs for a double amputee lie on the counter being charged; 'The guy is getting these on Monday, they are controlled by a bluetooth charger and he will be able to use a range of settings - the obvious walking but also cycling,' Tilbury explains somewhat proudly.

'The men never want the cosmoses - the flesh coloured pretend 'leg' to cover the technology of the prosthetic. They think the limbs are a 'Gucci' bit of kit - soldier speak for 'good', so want to show them off. In fact I can only think of one guy who wanted the cosmoses, and that was because he was going to a wedding and wanted his suit to hang well.'

It is the equipment, staff and patients that make Headley Court world class, but some of the buildings are sorely lacking. The 'Falklands' gym is in tent structure - built as a temporary building ten years ago, it is still here.

'The Battle of Britain' gym is like a school sports hall. Echoing acoustics mean that the noise is deafening as three different groups try to do their exercises.

'Help for Heroes' wants to knock the lot down and start again: 'If we can raise the money we can build a state of the art gym and swimming pool complex.' say Bryn.

Major Bradley, has, in total, spent almost six months at the unit: 'Headley Court has been amazing. I spent two months at the civilian hospital Selly Oak after being wounded, so coming here was the first time I was back within a military situation.

'Arriving to start treatment was an important day, it was like going back to work. Being here gave me a sense of normality; by nature soldiers are fairly institutionalised and Headley Court returns us to an environment that we understand and that understands us.

'You go to the gym and realise that there are many more people worse of than you are. It is inspiring, you see men with the most terrible injuries (be they from RTA, road traffic accidents, in the UK or wounds from theatre) really working their socks of to get themselves better.

'The treatment here is first class and after every admission I've made demonstrable progress. And I've made good friends - we all support one another, and it makes a huge difference to your mental recovery as well as your physical.'

But, as Major Bradley explains, support from outside the military is crucial: 'It is nice to know you are thought off - no one wants to come back and be ignored. Of course the conflicts we're involved in, well, they're not popular. But we go there because we are asked to.

'The returning soldiers don't want to be treated like heroes they just want a bit of appreciation for the sacrifices that are being made.

'And make no mistake there are huge sacrifices being made everyday, by very brave young men, younger and braver than me. These are the ones that need support - the more that can be done to show they are appreciated the better.'

Two days before the launch of the 'Help for Heroes' appeal, chairman Bryn Parry tells the Mail on Sunday: 'Headley Court is the most inspirational place.

'But I would like to think that the money raised by the grateful British public will help to make it even better and give our wounded heroes a supportive push on their road to recovery. They've done their duty by us now it's our turn to our duty by them.'