Mother's pride for brave soldier son
THE mother of a serving soldier has spoken of her pride in her son after he was involved in a terrifying road side bombing last week.
Lynda Betts said she was absolutely hysterical after being told in an email that her 23-year-old son Liam Dansi had been involved in the incident, which had been reported on Sky News.
"I got an email from a family liaison officer saying that Sky News had reported an incident in which two vehicles had been blown up and that Liam had been in one of the vehicles and that as far as they knew there were no casualties - I was absolutely hysterical," said Lynda.
But miraculously all the soldiers on board both vehicles had escaped injury and Liam, who has been in the Army for two-and-a-half years was absolutely fine.
Liam is serving with the 30th Armoured Engineer Squadron and is a bomb disposal expert dealing with Improvised Explosive Devices planted by the Taliban to cause maximum devastation to the armed forces.
Fortunately he had been travelling in a specially designed Trojan vehicle, which is made to withstand blasts like those it encountered on Wednesday or Thursday last week.
Liam, who is Lynda's eldest son - she has three others - has always wanted to join the army and was delighted when he was finally accepted after initially failing to get in.
"It is a really dangerous job, but he really loves it. I know you don't join the army expecting not to go to war - but that doesn't stop me worrying and I pray every single day.
"I know he is doing the job he was trained to do, but it is frightening. We are all extremely proud of Liam and what he is doing, but they are worrying times and we just can't wait until he comes home. He is due back home on March 26 and he has already served seven weeks in Afghanistan," said Lynda.
She added that Liam is among those taking part in Operation Moshtarak designed to drive the Taliban out of Helmand province - an area which has seen the loss of dozens of British soldiers over the past few years.
In the meantime Lynda and her family of Sutton Bridge look forward to their regular contact with Liam through email and telephone calls, whenever he can get in touch.
She also relies on a special website set up for the families and friends of those serving in Afghanistan for support.
"It has been set up by the BFPO website and it allows families, to talk to each other, about their fears and worries and it is a truly fantastic line of support," added Lynda.
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Weather for Wisbech
Thursday 17 May 2012
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