Absolutely disgusting

lil eva · Absolutely disgusting

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

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.

How can the MOD justify their compensation scale????

LynnT

Lynn shakes her head..................i dont know love

Nomad

It is an absolute disgrace. I hope the family take the MOD to the cleaners.

skyblue

tossers the lot of them

silver fox

ok you will not no this i was in the army 3 years i did ,and look how hard thats been for me to get a place i sent so many letters to them they dont want to no