Lance Corporal Martyn Compton of the Household Cavalry is someone well worth knowing. His service to his country and his fight to recover from injuries he sustained in Afghanistan have been acts of true heroism. Read more about him and see photos below.
Martyn Compton
Lance Corporal Martyn Compton got married over the weekend, on July 12th. He married Michelle Clifford in Kent, England. The couple met and became engaged in 2006. They were engaged only two weeks before he was deployed to Afghanistan.
Their marriage was beautiful on a whole lot of levels. Primarily, it was beautiful because it represented his long struggle to regain his life following catastrophic injuries while serving his country in Afghanistan.
On August 1, 2006, five weeks into his deployment, his convoy was ambushed. The vehicle he was driving hit a roadside bomb, killing the other passengers and engulfing him in flames. He was burned over 70 percent of his body. He broke his arm as he jumped out of his vehicle. He contracted flesh eating bugs as he rolled in the sand attempting to put out the fire that was covering his body. As he tried to pull himself to cover, a Taliban sniper shot him in the leg. When his comrades found him, he was close to death. He died and was revived three times en route to the hospital. He was in a coma for three months. Michelle sat by him everyday that he was unconscious. She decorated his room with pictures of loved ones. She talked to him and let him know she was there.
He credits her with giving him the strength to live through his ordeal.
Even though the doctors had told Michelle that he might never be able to walk, on Saturday he walked down the aisle to marry his bride. That was a victory in and of itself. There is still a long way to go. He has undergone over 60 hours of surgeries and is facing more. The doctors are working to reconstruct his face that was burned off.
But with a remarkable lack of self-pity and a strength that surpasses all understanding, he has begun the long walk to recovery. Best of all, he walked down the aisle to marry his bride.
He is definitely a hero and someone worth knowing.
Martyn Compton - Photos
