Royal Marine who lost arm and both legs in Taliban blast is refused full compensation

[Honey]

A Royal Marine who lost both legs and his right arm after stepping on a Taliban landmine in Afghanistan has been told he is not entitled to a full compensation package.


Mark Ormrod, 24, was blown up on patrol in Helmand province on Christmas Eve. He has spent the last three months in intensive care and rehabilitation.
He was offered £214,000 in compensation by the Ministry of Defence rather than the maximum £285,000.
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The Marine, 24, lives with his fiancee Becky and their three-year-old daughter Kezia-Mai




He is appealing, but says he wants to stay in the Marines "family" as an administrative worker if possible after being fitted with artificial limbs.
Campaigners and some legal experts are astonished he did not automatically qualify for the maximum. His father Paul said: "It's disgusting. It's unfair, but that's the Government we've got."
In uniform: Mark Ormrod



Diane Dernie, whose son Ben Parkinson was at the centre of the Daily Mail's campaign for better compensation for troops, knows Mr Ormrod because he and her son are at Headley Court military rehabilitation centre in Surrey.
She said: "It's a disgrace. How on earth do they expect boys who have been so badly injured serving their country to forge some kind of life for themselves on these amounts?"
The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme has been heavily criticised over the complicated fixed tariff it uses to calculate a lump sum payment.
Last year the Mail highlighted the case of Paratrooper Mr Parkinson, 23. An explosion in Afghanistan left him with 37 injuries including severe brain damage, speech loss and the amputation of both legs.
He was awarded £152,150 - less than a third of the £484,000 payout to a civilian RAF typist who strained her thumb.
There were changes to the system last month, but they did not increase the maximum and will benefit only a handful of wounded servicemen each year.
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Mark Ormrod received more than £70,000 below the maximum compensation payout despite losing an arm and both legs in a Taliban mine blast last Christmas Eve




The MoD refused to explain last night why Mr Ormrod did not qualify for the maximum award despite losing three limbs. It said: "The scheme provides an upfront lump sum payment and, for more severe injuries, a tax-free index-linked guaranteed monthly income payment which can amount to several hundreds of thousands of pounds over a lifetime.
"We cannot comment on the details of individual cases, but we wish Mark well."
Andrew Buchan of solicitors Irwin Mitchell, who specialise in compensation claims for soldiers, said he was "amazed" Mr Ormrod had not automatically qualified for the maximum.
"It's not a question of looking at their individual injuries, but the care and the support they will need over the years," he said. "The MoD will say he gets a guaranteed income as well, but that's for loss of earnings based on his rank now, not what he could be in ten years."
Mr Ormrod was deployed to Afghanistan last October. After he stepped on the landmine he received 28 pints of blood at an Army medical base before being airlifted on Britain, where he had five operations.
He regained consciousness on December 28 and asked his girlfriend Becky Hayes to marry him as soon as he opened his eyes.
Next month they are due to move into a home in Elburton, Devon, which being modified to meet his needs by the MoD. Mr Ormrod, who was 17 when he joined the Marines, said: "This hasn't changed me. I've just got to get on with it. It's down to me how much I can do in the future."

Royal Marine who lost arm and both legs in Taliban blast is refused full compensation payout by MoD | the Daily Mail

[tee-ha-ha]

Cheap bastards.

[msdeb]

holy crap thats awful!

[Sweetie]

It's awful but he knew something like this could happen prior to signing up.

It's like me jumping out of a plane...I know there is a chance that parachute won't open so I just don't do it. Better safe than sorry!

[smf]

this is bs ,at least they went to the press maybe it'll change then

[abbyroadme]

That is just so ridiculous. I hope they get help soon!

[Folieadeux]

It's awful but he knew something like this could happen prior to signing up.

It's like me jumping out of a plane...I know there is a chance that parachute won't open so I just don't do it. Better safe than sorry!

Yeah and the Ministry of Defence knew that this was likely to happen but they scrounge their way out of paying full compensation.

Personally I wouldn't partake in it, and I hope nobody close to me ever will. It's got little to do with patriotism, but because I'm scared to death of the people they will come back as, and if they are injured mentally or physically I know the government couldn't give a shit.