BlindVeterans_ChrisNowell_cannon_007
Blind Veterans Project
Chris Nowell 38, was a Lance Corporal in Afghanistan in September 2007. His roll was a Mastiff driver but preferred to man the 50 calibre machine gun. He was stationed at a forward operating base where mortars and gunfire was a regular occurrence. On the morning of 28/09/07, 3 weeks into a 6 month tour he was in his tent (just a mosquito net covering) when he heard mortars being fired at the base, he was about to run for cover and get his helmet to get on the wall when a mortar struck the wall he was leaning against. he was left unconscious. He subsequently was in an induced coma for a month. He sustained a fractured skull, lost his sight in his right eye and cannot see any peripheral vision on his left. He lost his memory for about a year. This was not his first tour he was in Northern Ireland and Iraq. He is now an ambassador for Van Guard Photo, UK and takes pictures of landscapes along with other jobs. Pictures by Richard Cannon