Triple-amputee praises island veteran community

A former royal marine and Invictus athlete has praised Guernsey's veteran community.

Mark Ormrod MBE, a triple-amputee and a competitor in the Invictus games visited the island as part of armed forces week.

The soldier lost both legs and his right arm when he stood on an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Afghanistan on Christmas Eve in 2007. He recently won the 'Inspiration Award' at the Soldiering On Awards event.

Omrod said he had built lasting friendships on the island thanks to the community it had built for its veterans.

He said: "I came and visited Guernsey a little while ago, and there's quite a big veteran community on there.

"I reached out to see if I knew anybody, if I could meet anyone while I was there, and kind of fell in love with the place, developed some relationships over there, so I've been back a couple of times since."

Omrod has set records through challenges including achieving the world record for the fastest triple amputee 1km swim and raised more than £150,000 when running a 5km (3.2 mile) run in prosthetics.

He said it was fellow veterans, alongside his family, who helped him the most when he was injured nearly two decades ago.

He said: "Immediately after it, as you can imagine, was pretty turbulent, chaotic - filled with a couple of highs but not plenty of lows.

"But it was that military community alongside my family that kind of dragged me out of the funk that I was in."

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