Guardsman Damion Pointin, from Abingdon, whose quick thinking helped to save the life of a wounded friend. Courtesy photo.
Guardsman Damion Pointin, from Abingdon, England and his pals braved continuing mortar fire to rush wounded colleague Lance Cpl. Karl Dobson to the medical centre within their camp.
Dobson, or “Dobbo” to his mates, was seriously injured during a mortar attack at Camp Abu Naji, in Maysaan province, when he was hit by a piece of shrapnel that passed through his shoulder and lodged in his chest.
”We were really just doing our job. In that situation we did what we had to do,” said Pointin, 21, a former pupil of Matthew Arnold School.
The four then had to make a difficult decision to stay firm in cover or hope the attack had stopped and move the casualty to the medical center. The four young soldiers assessed the severity of the wound and collectively agreed that Dobson needed to be moved, and moved quickly.
“I applied first aid, a first field dressing to ‘Dobbo’ and was one of the stretcher bearers who ran from the accommodation to the medical centre. There were rounds going off when we were running. About 100 meters (110 yards) away,” Pointin said.
Terrifyingly the attack had not stopped and mortar rounds started again falling in camp. The first round exploded about 50 yards in front of them, a second 110 yards to their left and a third about 80 yards away which detonated nearly 21,000 gallons of aviation fuel.
Although Dobson’s injuries were serious, he has since been flown back to the U.K., where it is expected he will need five weeks in hospital to recover.
The soldiers are part of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, responsible for various duties in Maysaan, duties that include passing and receiving information between the Battle Group and local citizens. They are serving with the Queen’s Royal Hussar Battle Group, located in Camp Abu Naji, about three miles southwest of the provincial capital Al Amarah, and about 125 miles north of Basra City.
“The decision those four young soldiers made was exceptional. The average age of those involved is only 21, and their only concern was that of their wounded comrade. Words cannot describe how proud I am,” said Capt. James Shaw the soldiers’ platoon commander.
