One veteran who knows first hand the importance of military nurses being there on the battlefield is Mark Ormrod, former Royal Marine Commando and the first triple amputee to survive the conflict in Afghanistan. RAF nurse Wing Commander Charlie Thompson, along with Army paramedic Sergeant Keith Mills, picked up Mark on the back of a helicopter following his traumatic injury on Christmas Eve 2007. Finding each other several years later, they have remained good friends ever since. Hear their story in their own words below.

Content warnings: injury and medical detail, limb loss, explosion, trauma, Afghanistan War