BBC programme follows injured soldiers inside Selly Oak Hospital
TONIGHT the British public will see how troops who have suffered horrific injuries are treated at Selly Oak Hospital as television cameras are let on to the highly secretive wards for the first time.
In a landmark agreement between the Ministry of Defence and the BBC, a film crew was allowed to follow two catastrophically wounded soldiers from the moment they were flown back to the UK from Afghanistan.
The powerful documentary details the highs and lows of being treated at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine in Birmingham and the Defence Rehabilitation Centre at Headley Court in Surrey.
Royal Irish Ranger Andy Allen, aged 19, was blown up by an Improvised Explosive Device and was flown back to Selly Oak where doctors battled to keep him alive.
Paratrooper Lance Corporal Tom Neathway, aged 24, from Worcester, lost both his legs and one of his arms when he fell victim to an almost identical blast.
His story is all the more special as he learns to walk again and aims to be able to stand using prosthetic limbs when he collects his war medal from Prince Charles.
Professor of clinical traumatology Keith Porter, who oversees the pair’s treatment in Birmingham, explained how the two soldier’s stories were typical of the scores of wounded that come through the doors at Selly Oak Hospital.
