Soldier loses leg on ice run (From Swindon Advertiser)

Soldier loses leg on ice run

7:01pm Wednesday 5th March 2008 in News By Matthew Pardo

A WILTSHIRE soldier had a leg torn off in an 80mph toboggan crash, but didn't realise it until afterwards.

Captain Bernie Bambury thought he had broken his ankle when tackling the famous Cresta run in St Moritz, Switzerland.

But after he had completed the course he discovered his leg had been severed below the knee.

Surgeons in Zurich sewed the limb back on in the course of nine operations but they told the 32-year-old Army officer it would be two years before he could walk and he might never regain full mobility.

Capt Bambury, who is serving with the 4th Battalion The Rifles based at Bulford camp, near Amesbury, then asked for the limb to be amputated and be fitted with a false leg - so that he could be back serving with his unit within a year.

He said: "Amputation gave the best prospects for the rest of my life and the swiftest return to duty."

Capt Bambury has already served a six month tour od duty in Iraq, from where he returned unscathed.

But when he was tackling the mile-long Cresta Run during an Army competition in January, his right foot hit a marker post and the leg was ripped clean off in the impact.

The severed leg was recovered hundreds of yards up the course after he had crossed the finish line.

Capt Bambury is now at the Headley Court Military Hospital, near Epsom, Surrey, which fits prosthetic limbs to wounded soldiers.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "This was a tragic accident.

"And Capt Bambury has taken a brave decision on medical advice to amputate.

"We hope he is able to make a swift recovery and wish him all the best for his rehabilitation at Headley Court.

"He is keen to crack on and he has the guts and determination to bounce back."