Help for heroes

Inch Magazine

Help for heroes

New wing will make huge difference to wounded servicemen and women
3
min
AUG 2019

INEOS has donated £25.3 million to a rehabilitation centre for wounded British soldiers. The money has paid for the new prosthetics wing at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre, in Nottinghamshire, to help those who have lost limbs get the very best treatment and support.

"There is no better cause than to help those who were prepared to lay down their lives for their country," said INEOS Chairman Jim Ratcliffe. "And you know when people come here with a trauma that their head is not in a very good place."

Former corporal Andy Reid said the new wing - named INEOS Prosthetics Wing - would make a massive difference to wounded servicemen and women.

"I know from my own experience how important it is to have the right facilities as well as the correct expertise to help people through their rehabilitation because the journey back from major injury is tough," he said.

Andy was on a routine foot patrol in Afghanistan in 2009 when he stepped on a bomb.

“I remember lying on my back,” he said. “I looked down and couldn’t see my legs. But straight away, I thought I am a survivor not a victim.”

The former corporal, who also lost an arm, is now an ambassador for The Black Stork Charity, the organisation which developed the new centre.

“This new wing has been purpose built to get guys out of their wheelchairs, get some legs on and get them walking,” he said.

INEOS’ donation is thought to be one of the largest corporate gifts ever made.

It builds on the incredible work of the late Duke of Westminster who came up with the idea of a rehabilitation centre for injured servicemen and women, with the potential for also helping NHS patients.

The former member of The Territorial Army for 40 years led the £300 million fundraising drive, donating £70 million out of his own pocket, but sadly died in 2016.

Late last year The Ministry of Defence took over full tenancy of the new centre, which has replaced the former rehabilitation centre at Headley Court in Surrey.

At the official handover ceremony, his son Hugh told guests: “My father was a man who liked to do things and get things done. It seems unjust and sad that he didn’t live to see his gift to the nation honoured and formalised. In a life full of projects, this was the one that meant the most to him.”

Photograph provided courtesy of the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre. This was used as part of their campaign to help raise awareness of their work nationally. 

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