As West Ham United mark Remembrance Day, Saturday’s game will see the Club’s Charity Partner, Blesma, raising awareness and funds to support limbless veterans...
Lifelong West Ham United fan Matt Woollard was on his first tour in Kajaki, Afghanistan with the Royal Anglian Regiment when he stepped on three anti-personnel mines.
As well as losing his right leg, he suffered burns to his hands, arms and a severe injury from his left knee to his belly. He also died three times.
With Blesma’s help Matt found a new career and is now Site Manager of a Primary School. At this Saturday’s match, he will be laying a wreath in memory of the fallen.
On Saturday 12 November, Matt will be laying a wreath on behalf of West Ham and Blesma to commemorate Remembrance. This is his story:
In 2007, Matt was following his boyhood dream having joined the Army and was serving in Afghanistan with 1st Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment.
“I had been in the Army Cadets and knew right from the start that I liked the discipline, the family, the routine... it offered something I wasn’t getting in school. So, I signed up when I was just 16 years and nine months old – the youngest you could be. I never had a Plan B!
“I deployed to Afghanistan in 2007. Training was tough but I felt confident and ready to go, even though I had only just turned 18.”
Matt had only been in theatre for six weeks when, on 3 May 2007, he was blown up after stepping on three anti-personnel mines that had been stacked on top of each other.
“I could see immediately that my right leg had gone below the knee, but at the same time I had to hold my left leg up because it was split open, and the muscle was hanging out. My arms and hands were badly damaged too, and I’ve had to have several skin grafts since.”
As horrific as that day was for Matt, he says the worst moment of his Army career was being told he couldn’t redeploy to Afghanistan.
“I’d done the training, I was back to being fit again and, if anything, I was a better soldier the second time around. I had a doctor’s appointment three weeks before deployment and he asked all these questions about my prosthetic leg, then gave me a hearing test.
“I failed it! I found out I had tinnitus in both ears and some loss of hearing in my left ear. It was enough to stop me deploying.”
In 2013, Matt was medically discharged, and for five years he went on a path to discover a new passion – which is exactly where Blesma has helped out.
“Blesma came into my life right from the start, when I was in hospital. My BSO introduced himself and another Member, Steve Gill. That was as terrifying as it was rewarding because this guy – a real big character, covered head to toe in tattoos – was cutting around on two prosthetic legs. That day changed the rest of my time in hospital because I was inspired. I decided that if Steve could walk that well on two prosthetic legs, I’d put in the effort to walk just as well.”
Matt discovered a new family amongst the membership, found a passion for cycling and, in 2019 he found a new career. He is now Site Manager of a Primary School.
Blesma has been supporting veterans like Matt for 90 years. With your continued support we will be here for our veterans for another 90 years.
If you want to know more about Blesma or would like to support our limbless and injured veterans, please visit www.blesma.org.
