Help for Heroes recovery centre enjoys ‘flying visit’

Help for Heroes welcomed a visitor from the skies this week when its charity partner Wings for Warriors dropped in on one of its recovery centres.

The team at Tedworth House in Wiltshire were surprised to see a two-seater helicopter land in the grounds.

At the controls of the chopper was Band of Brothers member Pte Chris Kirk, who has been undergoing all the training necessary to become a commercial helicopter pilot with the charity as a result of its successful partnership with Help for Heroes.

He piloted the two-seater Robinson R22 into the recovery centre and performed a textbook landing in front of Help for Heroes staff and patients.

It marks the continuation of a remarkable recovery by Pte Kirk, who in 2011 was injured when he trod on an improvised explosive device, just four days from the end of his first tour of Afghanistan.

At the start of his career, Pte Kirk had initially intended to become an army helicopter pilot and this remained his dream for some time. However, he decided to join infantry brigade 5 Scots, having grown up close to Glasgow, and his flying ambitions were put on hold.

But as he began to make a recovery from his military accident, he decided to take up flying once again.

Pte Kirk explained: "I was looking on Google and I just put in, 'Can amputees fly helicopters?' Wings for Warriors came up and I thought it looked too good to be true. But I got in touch and here I am."

The story is another example of the excellent work carried out by Help for Heroes and its selected partners, such as Wings for Warriors, in getting former military personnel back on their feet after injuries and trauma.

Having been responsible for getting his colleagues out of danger in Afghanistan, Pte Kirk is now determined to become an air ambulance helicopter pilot.