Martyn Compton married Michelle Clifford in Kent on Saturday
Martyn with Michelle before his injuries, which left him with over 70 per cent burns, a broken arm and a bullet in his leg .Yesterday, Miss Michelle Clifford married Lance-Corporal Martyn Compton.
And the terrible injuries he suffered in Afghanistan could not diminish the towering, inspirational love they share. And when he falteringly held out his hand for her to slip the gold ring on his finger, they both finally fulfilled the dream they had fought desperately against all the odds to make a reality.
It was so nearly destroyed when, two years ago, Martyn, a Lance-Corporal in the Household Cavalry, was badly burned in an ambush in Afghanistan. Suffering from 70 per cent burns, he was in a coma for three months. Following yesterday’s open-air ceremony at the Port Lympne Wild Animal Park, near Folkestone, Kent, the couple will today leave for a lavish two-week honeymoon, a gift from the travel company Abercrombie & Kent, at a secret location.
But when they return, Martyn will go back into Headley Court. He will have four weeks of intensive physiotherapy interspersed by two weeks at the modern three-bedroom semi near Hastings that is now home to him and Michelle.
So far he has undergone 60 hours of surgery, the most recent to rebuild his upper lip and left cheek. The next will be to reconstruct his nose.
His ears will be ‘regrown’ with cartilage from his ribs. Because the skin on his scalp is still raw, he has to wear factor 50 sunscreen, even on cloudy days.
And the terrible injuries he suffered in Afghanistan could not diminish the towering, inspirational love they share. And when he falteringly held out his hand for her to slip the gold ring on his finger, they both finally fulfilled the dream they had fought desperately against all the odds to make a reality.
It was so nearly destroyed when, two years ago, Martyn, a Lance-Corporal in the Household Cavalry, was badly burned in an ambush in Afghanistan. Suffering from 70 per cent burns, he was in a coma for three months. Following yesterday’s open-air ceremony at the Port Lympne Wild Animal Park, near Folkestone, Kent, the couple will today leave for a lavish two-week honeymoon, a gift from the travel company Abercrombie & Kent, at a secret location.
But when they return, Martyn will go back into Headley Court. He will have four weeks of intensive physiotherapy interspersed by two weeks at the modern three-bedroom semi near Hastings that is now home to him and Michelle.
So far he has undergone 60 hours of surgery, the most recent to rebuild his upper lip and left cheek. The next will be to reconstruct his nose.
His ears will be ‘regrown’ with cartilage from his ribs. Because the skin on his scalp is still raw, he has to wear factor 50 sunscreen, even on cloudy days.
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