Library Corner
Philomel Base Library
Base Librarian Janet Gilmore
Mark Ormrod Royal Marine
Man down
Mark Ormrod has been a Marine since he was seventeen, had served in Iraq and is now in Afghanistan. Christmas Eve 2007 he goes out on patrol and steps on a land mine, there is a massive explosion and he loses both legs and part of his right arm. He has to lie still while the other members of the patrol try to get to him. “Man down” starts with this catastrophic event and then back tracks over his life in the Marines until this point. Then he describes his near death experience and the sudden reality of what his life is now going to be like coping with these major injuries.
Fortunately Mark had the loving support of his fiancée and family and skilled assistance of the staff in the military hospitals where he started his recovery. He had times of utter despair and then his mental strength and training asserted itself and he was able to continue with his rehabilitation.
This book is the tale of one man’s immense courage and his desire to be able to fend for himself. Ten weeks after the explosion he was upright and walking on artificial legs. For Mark and his carers it was an amazing achievement especially as Mark was the first person in the British Armed Forces to lose three limbs.
The book ends with his marriage to Becky, a move into an especially remodelled house and his first days back at work, still in the Marines.