Worst injured soldier ever to survive is awarded less than RAF typist with a sore thumb
Ben Parkinson volunteered to serve his country on the Afghan front line - and paid a terrible price.
The young paratrooper suffered a total of 37 terrible injuries when he was blown up by a landmine.
He lost both his legs and sustained grievous damage to his
spine, skull, pelvis, hands, spleen and ribcage, leaving him in a coma
for months.
Incredibly, 23-year-old Ben is still alive almost a year later
- according to his doctors the most badly-injured soldier ever to
survive.
All his mother wants is to buy a bungalow so she can care for him there.
Yet as recompense for his ruined life, Ben has been offered only
£152,150 - little more than half the maximum award for maimed military
personnel and less than a third of the £484,000 doled out to an RAF
typist who claimed she had suffered repetitive strain injury to her
thumb.
Yesterday Ben's mother Diane Dernie told how she plans to
challenge the award in the High Court, and spoke of her disgust at this
"insult" to her brave son.
"We won't let him lose his chance to come home," she said. "It is
iniquitous the way his injuries have been dismissed as nothing. He
deserves better."
Mrs Dernie has been told that Ben's case does not qualify for
legal aid. So she is appealing for help to raise £50,000 to fund the
first High Court challenge against the Armed Forces Compensation
Scheme, arguing that its rules are patently unfair in the most severe
cases.
A successful judicial review would ensure that several other
soldiers maimed in Iraq and Afghanistan will receive financial
security.
Ben's case exemplifies the mounting concern about the Government's treatment of the Armed Forces. READ THE FULL STORY and HELP
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