Painfull memories

Soldier weeps recalling Afghanistan suicide bomb attack

A soldier wept as he recalled his decision to get life-saving treatment for a colleague wounded in a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan – while leaving another soldier behind.
WO Simon Edgell, of 1st Bn Grenadier Guards, was faced with the choice of searching the area for Sgt David Wilkinson, 33, who was thrown from his vehicle, or leaving him there and getting another colleague medical care.
He told an inquest at Trowbridge town hall in Wiltshire that, fearing Sgt Wilkinson was dead, he decided to get medical help for Sgt Carl Shadrake, who was bleeding badly from a ruptured windpipe and neck artery.
WO Edgell said he was unable to radio for help because he had to maintain pressure on Sgt Shadrake's wound. He opted instead to alert colleagues at Price base about 10 minutes drive from Gereshk, Helmand Province, where the incident happened last summer.
WO Edgell, who was in a vehicle that had been in front of Sgt Wilkinson's, said: "I made the decision that I had to get the casualties – one bleeding very badly – back to Price.'
"I made the decision to get Sgt Shadrake medical treatment without delay, otherwise I thought he might die."
He broke down as he recalled telling a colleague: "I can't find Dave."
Sgt Wilkinson's body was later found in a drainage ditch. The cause of death was confirmed to be as a result of head injuries.
His widow, Rachel, who was attending the hearing, also burst into tears as she heard surviving soldiers' accounts. Sgt Wilkinson, of 19 Regiment Royal Artillery, had been driving a weapon-mounted Land Rover when a device containing ball bearings was detonated.
The blast, on July 1 last year, injured four other soldiers, one seriously.
Sgt Wilkinson, based at Larkhill, Wilts, had been part of a Grenadier Guards team training the Afghan National Army.
A pair of sandals was found between two sacks beside the road where the explosion occurred. It is thought the bomber hid between the sacks, detonating the device as Sgt Wilkinson's vehicle passed.
David Masters, the Wiltshire coroner, recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.
On WO Edgell's decision to leave Sgt Wilkinson behind, he said: "In the agony of that moment he has to make a decision.
''He knows that he has one serviceman very seriously injured. He knows he must get to the medical centre as quickly as possible, and that he did – understandably, in my opinion."
The hearing heard that Sgt Shadrake survived his wounds.


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