Ben Parkinson (British soldier)

In 2021 Parkinson released an autobiography Losing the Battle, Winning the War: How we can all defy the odds we're given. It was described as a "reflection of what heroism really means".

In 2015 he underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy at a clinic in Scotland to try and repair his brain damage.

In 2013 he was appointed an MBE by Prince Charles in recognition of his charity work.

In June, 2012, he successfully carried the Olympic Flame through his home town of Doncaster and was cheered on by thousands of wellwishers as he walked on prosthetic legs.

In 2008 he won The Sun newspaper's Overcoming Adversity award at its inaugural Millies ceremony in London. He was presented the award by former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson.

On 6 September 2006, he was part of a large armoured convoy in northern Helmand province, near the town of Musa Qala, when the WMIK open-top Land Rover he was travelling in hit a suspected anti-tank mine, left over from the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

Parkinson joined the Army at 16 and attended at the Army Foundation College in Harrogage. He joined 7 Para RHA, an airborne artillery regiment, in December 2001 and in 2003 he served with British forces in the US-led invasion of Iraq. He also served on a Nato peacekeeping mission in Kosovo.

Ben Parkinson MBE (born 31 March 1984) is a former British paratrooper, veterans' campaigner and author. He is the most severely wounded soldier to survive the War in Afghanistan. Both his legs were amputated, he broke his back and suffered lasting brain damage when the Land Rover he was travelling in struck a landmine in 2006. He defied his doctors' expectations by learning to walk and talk again and regularly raises money for veterans' charities. His case forced the Ministry of Defence to significantly increase compensation payouts to wounded British soldiers.