Long road back to fighting fitness for injured service personnel

IT'S a football club with a record for military service that few could equal. And Hearts have never forgotten that history, with the memory of the First World War McCrae's Battalion, made up of players and fans, still honoured.
By The Newsroom
Published 19th Mar 2010, 09:03 BST
Updated 19th Mar 2010, 10:01 BST

But that respect isn't just historical. This season, the club is raising thousands of pounds for the Erskine charity, which provides care for former members of the armed forces. Serving soldiers and those recovering from injuries are also being invited to games, including on 27 March and 10 April.

A spokesman for Hearts explains: "Our history is hugely important to us and it's for that reason we are so heavily involved in supporting the work of the armed forces, particularly through our partnership with Erskine.

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"We are delighted to be welcoming serving personnel to these forthcoming games, rightly giving them the chance to receive the acclaim of all the supporters."

A spokesman for 1 Scots adds: "The battalion appreciates all the support from Hearts, and recognises its historic link with the military. The guys are really looking forward to going along and are grateful for the opportunity."

Here, soldiers from 3 Rifles and 1 Scots, injured in recent tours of Afghanistan, who are hoping to get to one of the Hearts matches, tell their stories.

• Click here to listen to a clip of Garrison FM

Lance Corporal Steven Higgins and Private Ian Blair, 1 Scots

Cousins Steven Higgins 29, and Ian Blair, 22, left to serve in Afghanistan together at the end of last year, with hopes that they would both be returning home to their families at the same time too. They did – but not because they finished their tour of duty but because both were badly injured in incidents just two days apart.

Twenty-one men have had to return home to Dreghorn Barracks due to injury since B Company headed to Afghanistan last October.

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For Ian, who lives in Prestonpans with girlfriend Stacey, 22, his return was particularly hard to take – only a week later his platoon was attacked by insurgents. One of his close friends lost both his legs, two men were killed and another shot in the back. He explains: "I had to come home when I shattered my hip. We were climbing over walls in the compound, which is like a maze, and they are only six inches or so thick. We'd put a ladder over the top of it so we could get over, but I fell about 18 feet on to the rocks below.

"When I heard what had happened the week after I left, I was horrified. A tiny part of you feels relieved, but there is guilt too. What if I had been there? Would it have made a difference? At the end of the day you have to remember that this is the nature of the job.