VIDEO: "I Want To Show My Appreciation For Their Sacrifice"

Afghanistan veteran Steve Owen from Llandysul says it's going to be a very different Remembrance this year for those who served during the Afghan conflict.

The former member of The Royal Welsh, who was part of the fire support company is organising a special fundraiser in tribute to those who did not return home.

The 32 year old father of three is the West and Mid Wales Manager for veterans charity Woody's Lodge. He will be walking 457 laps over a 400 metre running track, that's around 113 miles or 182 kilometres.

He told us: "The idea behind this is that we we lost 457 service personnel in Afghanistan over the last 20 years. And you know, I'm not one of these people that watch things unfold from my armchair. So I said 'OK, I'm going to go out there and I'm going to walk a lap for these guys to show my respect' and it's November as well. It's Remembrance Sunday the weekend after and I thought, you know, I've got to do this, because I feel like people should be more aware of the things that are going on. So what better way than to show my support and to show my appreciation for their sacrifice."

"I think definitely for the younger generation, for the guys like me that served in Afghan, this November is going to be quite vivid because of all the media that's been happening over the past few month. It's definitely going to be at the forefront of their mind on Remembrance Sunday. I know it will be on mine because I lost some friends over there and it's that time of year where everybody remembers them anyway."

Steve joined the army at 16. He was deployed to serve in Afghanistan in 2010 and was part of the Royal Welsh battle group involved with Operation Moshtarak. His reconnaissance platoon had just been sent back to Bastion to rejig the kit on their vehicles when they got the order on the 19th of February to redeploy on the ground. He got about 40 kilometres outside of the base when his vehicle went over an IED. Steve told us: "I did not lose consciousness but suffered a large shrapnel wound to my right leg and head. I was taken back to Bastion where I had a five to seven hour operation for what was a life threatening injury at the time. Once I was stable they flew me back to the UK and I underwent further operations at Selly Oak to save my leg. That enabled me to rehab at Headley Court and after 18 months I was declared fit again.

"To be honest I was on top of the world, I was going to be able to carry on doing the job I loved. So when I was asked if I wanted to redeploy to Afghanistan with my battalion - I said yes. But after about five and a half months I had to be returned to the UK because the surgery I had done to repair my leg had come undone. My surgeon said a few expletives when he knew what I had been up to. He got me fit enough to be able to walk again but knew then that my career had come to an end.

"I was watching television when I felt a massive pain shoot up my leg into my back. It was so bad I had to ring for an ambulance. When they investigated two nerves had touched each other and the leg stopped working from the injury site to the foot and started dying from the foot up. After four months I spoke with my surgeon and told him I needed to have an amputation. On the 9th of November 2016 I became an amputee."

Within weeks of surgery Steve was thinking of ways he could use his experience to help others. He said: "Four months after my amputation I'd only been walking about three or four weeks I decided to do a 26 mile sponsored walk, which was good mentally, but not very good physically. You know, I tore up my stump a little bit, but you know, ever since then I've been trying to strive to to push myself all the time, you know, to to to take myself out of that comfort zone. And you know, really get back down to my roots.

"It is probably a part of me, the reason why I joined the army, it just goes back to then. I'm a firm believer in using my life experiences and the things that I've been through. Knowledge is no good unless you pass it on. So for people to see me cracking on, then see me doing these kind of things and raising money for really worthy charities and things like that, it just gives them a different perspective of what it means to be an amputee. Hopefully it will inspire them to get out of their comfort zone and encourage them maybe to do something for a cause which is important to them."

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