Wounded servicemen qualify as BSAC instructors

Two men badly wounded on active service have managed to qualify as BSAC diving instructors.

28-year old Para Brad Hughes was inside a Viking on patrol in Afghanistan when it drove over an Improvised Explosive Device.

He was severely injured and suffered six fractures, a dislocated foot and has been recovering for three years. His friend and dive buddy Peter Wesley (28) was also badly injured during military training.

However, both refused to let their bad fortune hold them back, and joined a rehabilitation scheme run by the Army Sub Aqua Diving Association (ASADA).

And both have since gone on to receive their instructor qualifications, the only members to do so.

It was in 2008 that chairman of ASADA, Guy Wallis, a platoon commander during the Falklands War, first put forward the idea of using diving as rehabilitation for injured soldiers.

ASADA now organises trips twice a year to Malta and Cyprus with many of the worst injured servicemen and women gaining BSAC qualifications.

However, none have reached as impressive a level as Brad and Peter. Well done chaps…