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Simon Weston

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Simon Weston
Weston in 2008
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1978 – 1982
UnitWelsh Guards
Battles/warsFalklands War
Other workCharity work, particularly for the
disfigured and wounded in action

Simon Weston OBE (born 8 August 1961) is a former British Army soldier who became well known throughout the United Kingdom for his recovery and charity work after suffering severe burn injuries during the Falklands War.[1]


Biography

Early life

Weston was born in Caerphilly District Miners Hospital. He was brought up by his mother, Pauline and adoptive father, 'Lofty'. His biological father served in the Royal Air Force alongside his mother. Weston lived in Singapore and Nocton Hall in Lincoln before returning to Nelson at the age of around six or seven.[2] He has one older sister and three stepbrothers.

He joined the Welsh Guards in 1978 at the age of 16 at the insistence of his mother, after he "got into bother".[2] He served in Berlin, Northern Ireland and Kenya before being deployed to the Falkland Islands.[3]

The Falklands War

On 8 June 1982, he was with other members of his regiment on the ship the RFA Sir Galahad in Bluff Cove, just off the Falkland Islands, when it was bombed and set on fire by enemy Skyhawk fighters. The ship was carrying ammunition including phosphoric bombs and thousands of gallons of diesel and petrol.[4] Twenty-two out of his platoon of thirty men were killed; all together the Welsh Guards lost forty-eight men and ninety-seven were injured.[4]

Weston survived with 46% burns, following which his face was barely recognisable:

My first encounter with a really low point was when they wheeled me into the transit hospital at RAF Lyneham and I passed my mother in the corridor and she said to my gran, "Oh mam, look at that poor boy" and I cried out "Mam, it's me!" And as she recognised my voice her face turned to stone.

— Simon Weston, [4]

Recovery

Weston endured years of reconstructive surgery, including over 70 major operations or surgical procedures.[4] Skin from his shoulders was used to make eyelids.[5] Skin from his buttocks was used to form a new nose.[6] He suffered psychological trauma, drinking heavily and becoming suicidal,[7] and admits his behaviour during this time was "terrible".[4] He credits his mother with helping him to overcome this.[2] In particular, her act of reuniting him with his old regiment, who refused to mollycoddle him (especially Glen White, who ran the Welsh Guards rugby side), forced him to "face up to the unavoidable and to be positive about everything including especially my future".[4]

Television and media

Weston became a well-known personality on radio and television, especially within Wales. He has been the subject of a number of BBC documentaries and presented his own radio show on BBC Radio Wales. Ironically the show was called "Face for the Radio". He has been a commentator numerous times on television news programmes and documentaries. On 14 June 2007, the 25th anniversary of the Falklands War ending, he appeared on various UK television stations recalling his experience of the war. He has also appeared on programmes such as This Is Your Life and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.[1] He featured in a £7million ad campaign launched in 2000 aimed at boosting recruitment into the police force.[8]

He has written best-selling autobiographies as well as a series of novels.[1] In 2003 he announced that he had been in talks over plans to make a film about his life.[9]

Charity work

In 1986 Weston undertook his first goodwill tour, to Australia, at the request of the Guards Association of Australasia. The resulting donations to children's burns units made him begin to feel useful again.[4]

Weston became patron of a number of charities that support people living with disfigurements,[1][10] as well as the lead ambassador for The Healing Foundation.[11] He also set up a national youth charity, Weston Spirit, in 1988, shortly after moving to Liverpool. However in 2008, the charity suffered from financial difficulties and had to be shut down.[12]

Weston's courage and charity work have been recognised and honoured a number of times. In 1992 he was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.[3] In 2002 he was awarded Freedom of the City of Liverpool.[13] In 2004, he was named one of the top 100 Welsh heroes.[14] In 2005 he was made an Honorary Fellow of Cardiff University.[15] In 2006 Weston and dual code (Rugby League and Rugby Union) international David Watkins were installed as patrons of the Wales Rugby League, in a ceremony held in the Welsh Assembly.

In 2008 Simon Weston accepted an invitation to become Patron of The John Thornton Young Achievers Foundation.

In September 2009 Simon Weston agreed to President Elect of the Welsh Scout Council he was formally introduced at the Council's annual general meeting at Llandrindod Wells on 31 October 2009.[16]

Political activism

Weston has campaigned in support of troops and veterans and against politicians' alleged failure to adequately support them.[17] He has spoken out against defence budget cuts and British troops allegedly being supplied with inadequate kit,[18] and about the lack of support, health care and adequate compensation for veterans.[6] On 12 March 2007 he appeared on ITV News, giving his opinion on the care of British soldiers in hospital. On 4 March 2008, he appeared alongside Tory leader David Cameron as he announced the formation of a commission to investigate ways to help restore the military covenant, which the Tory leader called 'well and truly broken'.[19] Weston will take a non-partisan, advisory role to the Commission (headed by Frederick Forsyth), with his work taking a particular focus to the treatment of veterans and the compensation paid out to injured service personnel.

Weston is a critic of the Iraq War, believing Tony Blair's argument for invasion simply didn't hold water.[6] In February 2003, in the run up to the war, he spoke out about "politicians with so many different agendas, spin and bluff and throwing smoke in the air and I have to say even lies... so often that we are not sure what we are actually listening to now".[20]

Weston also spoke to the ethical committee at London's Royal Free Hospital in 2006 to support the case for authorising full face transplants,[21] even though he had previously been against the idea.[22]

Personal life

He is married to Lucy, with whom he has three children: James, Stuart and Emma. They met in Liverpool when she was working for his charity, Weston Spirit.[2] They were engaged on 8 June 1989, exactly seven years after the attack on the Sir Galahad, and married on 12 May 1990.[23]

Weston has met and become friends with the Argentine pilot who dropped the bomb which caused his injuries.[23]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Simon Weston Biography". simonweston.com. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
  2. ^ a b c d Jones, Catherine (8 June 2007). "My mum said 'where do we go from here?'". WalesOnline. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
  3. ^ a b "Simon Weston". BBC Wales. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Keynote Speech to ADSW Annual Conference". ADSW. 21 May 2003. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
  5. ^ "The First Face Transplant". My Multiple Sclerosis. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
  6. ^ a b c "Interview". Hampshire Society. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
  7. ^ "Simon Weston tells of trauma". BBC News. 21 June 2006. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
  8. ^ "Police ads: An expert's verdict". BBC News. 30 August 2000. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
  9. ^ "Movie to tell Weston's story". BBC News. 1 July 2003. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
  10. ^ "Who we are". The Face Trust.
  11. ^ "Ambassadors' Stories". The Healing Foundation.
  12. ^ "Important notice - 31st May 2008". Weston Spirit. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
  13. ^ "Falklands veteran receives civic honour". BBC News. 18 January 2002. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
  14. ^ "26. Simon Weston OBE". 100 Welsh Heroes. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
  15. ^ "Honorary Fellows 2005". Cardiff University. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
  16. ^ "Simon Weston becomes President of Scouting in Wales". Welsh Scout Council. 21 September 2009. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
  17. ^ "Tory military care plan due out". BBC News. 17 June 2008. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
  18. ^ "'Don't let faulty kit kill our troops'". BBC News. 18 November 2002. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
  19. ^ "Cameron: Military covenant broken". BBC News. 4 March 2008. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
  20. ^ "Blair puts 'moral' case for war". BBC News. 13 February 2003. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
  21. ^ "Face transplant decision expected". BBC News. 18 June 2006. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
  22. ^ "What the papers say". BBC News. 28 November 2002. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
  23. ^ a b Rix, Juliet (2 June 2007). "Just another dad". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
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