Street roots., November 21, 2014, Page 10, Image 10

On Feb. 8,2008, Marine Joe Townsend
was injured when an IED exploded while h e
was on early morning patrol with 40
Commando, Royal Marines, in Afghanistan.
Aged 19, he lost both legs and spent six
weeks in serious condition, fighting infection
in the hospital and at home. Two years after
his injury, Townsend began training in
adaptive sports to regain his former fitness.
He now competes in world-class endurance
Iron Man competitions.
“I think my family finds it hard to believe,
as I do, how far I’ve come. I’ve gone from
being a frail, injured little boy in hospital to a
strong endurance athlete who’s competed in
some of the toughest endurance events in
the world, ones which able-bodied people
struggle to do. I suppose I’ve got that typical
Royal Marines grip where you need to keep
pushing yourself and finding new challenges,
and once you’ve completed something, you
need to find something harder and just keep
driving yourself. And it’s a way of me saying
thank you to my family for being there while
I was really weak and struggling and really
needing them. It’s a way of proving to them
that I’ve overcome this injury and that there
are new things I can do.”
PH O TO BY B RYAN A D A M S
Corporal Ricky Fergusson, Royal Marines
Canadian rocker Bryan Adam s is also an
award-winning photographer. With the release o f his
new book, “Wounded: The Legacy o f War," Adams
tells soldiers stories o f survival, endurance and
overcoming the violence o f war
BY BRYAN ADAMS
CO N TR IB U TIN G W RITER
was driven to do this as I was firmly
against the war in Iraq and didn’t see
the point in lacking the hornets’ n est
When I started to see people coming
back without their limbs, I felt compelled
to say something. It wasn’t enough just
to march in protest. The politicians
weren’t listening to the people.
It all started about five years ago when
I was approached by Independent
Television News journalist Caroline
Froggatt who knew a lot of these guys.
They all worked so hard, not only with
their own rehabilitation but for other
people. Most of them were challenging
themselves even harder than they did
B R Y A N A D A M S . SELF-PORTRAIT
before they were wounded — climbing
mountains, crossing oceans, traversing
war and what the repercussions are. This
the poles. All extraordinary things and all only scratches the surface of the pain
for die betterment of their comrades.
and suffering Britain incurred in Iraq and
Incredible people. I have an enormous
Afghanistan, not to mention the millions
amount of respect for them.
of people who were displaced and entire
I see the book and the exhibition as a
families lost due to these senseless wars.
document to a particular time in our lives
All photos by Bryan Adams, featured in
that shouldn’t Be forgotten. We must not
also forget the brutal consequences of
“Wounded: The Legacy of War. ”
■
PH O TO BY B R YAN A D A M S