A SOLDIER who was told he had a five per cent chance of ever becoming a father after being injured in Afghanistan, has spoken of his pride after his two daughters paid their respects at the St Helens Remembrance Sunday service.
Tony Williams, from Laffak, was working a Corporal in the Queen Alexandria’s Royal Army Nursing Corps based in Afghanistan in 2010 when he was severely injured.
He survived being hit by an exploding grenade while on duty – but a month later he was shot six times as he tended to an injured comrade.
One bullet went through the shoulder, two hit his body armour and one fractured his hip, which then ricocheted off his spine.
He said: “I saw people injured and couldn’t just leave them so I gave my rifle away to a colleague and went to help.
“As I went to turn him over and put him in the recovery position, I was shot in my left hip and abdomen and it ricocheted into my spine and I was instantly paralysed from the waist down.
Tony with his daughters
“I was in a medically induced coma for a week and was woken up to the news that I wouldn't be able to walk again and less than five per cent chance in having kids.
“After that grenade had hit me, I thought of my life and that I had no legacy, I wanted a family of my own and now I was told I’d never have that.
“But three years later it was a miracle and I found out I was going to be a dad.
“I cried so much and just burst into tears, I didn’t think I’d ever feel that and then when Holly was born it meant so much more what those men did for me over there, I’m here because of them and so was she. A year and two days later Ellena was born and the pride I have for both of them makes everything I’ve been through worthwhile.”
Tony in Afghanistan
On Sunday, November 10, Tony, now walking, took Holly, five and Ellena, four, to the Remembrance Sunday services each wearing miniatures of his medals, red coats and berets.
Tony, now 35, added: “Seeing my girls remembering not just the men who helped daddy but all the men who did so much to help others and had to go to heaven early, meant so much to me.
“They are so proud, because they know that my story is their story. They are only here because of those men who helped me over there.
“To see them excited just meant the world to me.
“It’s important we explain to young people, in a way they can understand, what it’s about.
“Since coming home Remembrance Sunday has been a difficult day for me, but now I will always think back to my girls full of pride and it’s not a sad day anymore it is a proud one of our story that got us here.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here