A former British soldier has shared his harrowing experience of losing both legs after stepping on an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Afghanistan, an incident that nearly claimed his life.
A new documentary on Channel 5 highlights how Luke was critically injured just weeks into his initial deployment when he encountered the explosive device.
Following the incident, medical teams at Camp Bastion performed life-saving surgery by amputating his legs up to the pelvis, yet Luke was left with intense nerve pain in the remaining stumps.
He is now undergoing a pioneering surgical procedure where doctors aim to locate and reconnect the troublesome nerve ends to his muscles in hopes of alleviating his pain.
The journey to this innovative surgery at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham is documented in the latest series of ‘Surgeons: A Matter of Life or Death,’ set to air at 9 p.m. tonight.
An exclusive clip released to the Daily Mail shows Luke in his hospital gown, candidly discussing his traumatic experience for the first time.
Luke says: ‘It was just a normal day, normal foot patrol. We left our checkpoint quite early in the morning. We patrolled up to where the rest of our platoon were staying, trying to fight back where the Taliban had quite a big stronghold.
‘But after the lads started to search the compound, they cleared the compound, three of us got placed on overwatch, looking in, giving cover. And I just got up and walked around and that’s when I stood on an IED.’
Soldier Luke was left in a critical condition when he stood on an Improvised Explosive Device
Luke speaks with his family at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham ahead of his procedure
He then points to a photo of him next to the IED, adding: ‘Unfortunately the bloke who searched it missed it, but I think anyone would miss it – you can’t tell where it is.
‘But I’ve got up and walked round and stood on it and detonated it there. I lost both my legs above the knee straight away.
‘I had damage to my left arm, to my left hand as well. I broke my pelvis in three places and then I suffered a cardiac arrest for nine minutes.’
Luke says it is ‘weird talking about it in this much depth’ for the first time.
He adds: ‘I think if it was anywhere else in the world, I would have probably died. But I think it was the fact that it was in Camp Bastion that we had the best trauma doctors ever.’
Luke has also created a remarkable bond with his surgeon Colonel Mark Foster, who also served at Camp Bastion where he treated soldiers like him.
Colonel Foster tells the programme: ‘There’s always more pressure when you’re treating someone that you’ve known quite well for such a long time, and also there’s this bond between us that you don’t get elsewhere.
Luke shows viewers this photo of him after the incident in Afghanistan which was almost fatal
Luke also shows a photo of him (far right) next to what turned out to be the IED in Afghanistan
Viewers are also shown a photo of Luke when he was in the Army, serving in Afghanistan
‘I’ve been trained within the Army both in the UK and overseas, culminating in my time at Camp Bastion treating soldiers like Luke. We all had this brother bond that we were looking after our team, trying to do their thing.
‘I’ve been fighting his corner for such a long time, and that burden is not without some cost. It’s difficult isn’t it, these things weigh on your mind all the time.’
He then becomes emotional, adding: ‘It’s not without risk, I’ve carried through the responsibility of trying to bring everybody together to persuade them that this chap really does have just one last chance, for us to operate on him, to give him some level of normality that we all enjoy.’
Colonel Foster is a plastics surgeon who has operated numerous times on Luke over the last decade, and is working on the latest operation with nerve surgeon Sam George.
Their aim is to find the nerve ends that are causing Luke so much pain, then plumb them into muscles in his stump in the hope that this will stop the intractable pain being suffered by Luke.
Luke has created a remarkable bond with his surgeon Colonel Mark Foster (pictured)
Colonel Mark Foster shows a photo of him in the Army, after he also served at Camp Bastion
However, on the day of the operation, they are concerned about Luke’s heart, which was compromised after his accident, as it begins to show signs of stress while anaesthetists begin to sedate him.
The surgeons then have to decide whether to abandon the procedure knowing that they are effectively committing Luke to a lifetime of pain, or continue with the threat that his heart will stop and he will die in front of them on the operating table.
Luke’s story is featured in the first episode of a new six-part series of the show which looks at life-saving and life changing operations taking place across 73 theatres at the hospital.
The episode also looks at the story of former chef Julian who has an aggressive cancer on the back of his tongue and requires radical surgery to avoid it spreading and killing him.
‘Surgeons: A Matter of Life or Death’ airs on Channel 5 tonight at 9pm
