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Amputee soldier takes on the slopes
A SOLDIER who lost both legs in an explosion in Iraq has taken part in a pioneering course to learn to ski.
Sergeant Mick Brennan, 28, a former pupil of North Border Comprehensive School in Harworth, lost both of his legs when a car bomb exploded when he was working as part of a bomb disposal squad in Baghdad in 2004.
Mick was one of nine amputees who were the first to be trained in adaptive skiing, a pioneering ski course for injured service personnel in the Bavarian Alps.
With more than 400 wounded service people returning from Iraq and Afghanistan last year alone, the ski course is part of a wider services programme called Battle Back which aims to give personnel faced with a traumatic disability a positive self image and outlook on life.
Mick learnt to ski in a mono ski, a seat mounted on a ski with supportive crutches with mini-skis on either side.
He now hopes to become involved with the development squad for the paralympic team.
The soldier, who serves with the 30th Signal Regiment based in Nuneaton, explained: "I don't do anything by half and I hate being second best, so I'm determined to make the development squad for the paralympic ski team. It's brilliant how the participants have all come together and are progressing so quickly that they're actually skiing better than some able-bodied skiers."
Having enlisted in the Army in 1998, Mick will stay in uniform for as long as he can. He paid tribute to the support of his family, wife Debra and children Kurt, Tyler and Kelsey.
"I credit my wife with getting me to where I am today, without question. The local community have also been really supportive of all of us, my parents too, who were badly affected by what happened to me. They still live locally; my Dad is a miner in Harworth, and they really appreciate all the concern that the community have shown."
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Friday 25 May 2012
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