Jul 102019
 

“Wounded in Afghanistan”

with

Dr. Emily Mayhew and Harry Parker 

Was on Thursday 31st January 2019 in The Kincaid Gallery, The Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) Museum

The treatment of soldiers wounded in battle has changed dramatically in recent history; the struggle to evacuate the injured from the mud of the First World War battlefields through forward dressing stations and into the evacuation chain via road or rail transport, has been superseded by evacuation from close to the point of wounding by specially equipped and manned helicopters that provide swift transfer to fully equipped field hospitals.

The chances of survival of all but the very worst injured have improved significantly.
Serving on Operation HERRICK in Afghanistan with The Rifles Harry Parker was badly wounded when he stepped on an improvised explosive device.

His immediate evacuation and treatment in country stabilised his condition and recovery by air to the UK followed; he lost both legs and spent long months in hospital and rehabilitation but he survived injuries that in other conflicts would most probably killed him.

The story of medical treatment for UK casualties on operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, is the subject of this evening talk by Emily Mayhew; Harry Parker provides his personal experience and insight from wounding to recovery.

Emily Mayhew is a Research Associate at Imperial College London and an Examiner at the Imperial College Medical School; she is a lecturer to various museums including the Welcome Collection, the Imperial War Museum and the Royal College of Surgeons.

Her second book, ‘Wounded’, was shortlisted for the 2014 Welcome Trust Book Prize. Her latest publication ‘Heavy Reckoning: War, Medicine and Survival in Afghanistan and Beyond’ covers the modern day experience of a soldier’s journey from injury on the battlefield to recovery in Britain.

Harry Parker joined the British Army when he was 23 and served in Iraq in 2007 and Afghanistan in 2009 as Captain before his life changing injury on operations. He is now a writer and artist and lives in London.

Soured From YouTube (Credited To William Wright)