Injured Worcester soldier's bike may be replaced
A Worcestershire businessman has offered to replace a quad bike which was stolen from a disabled soldier.
L/Cpl Tom Neathway, of Worcester, who lost both legs and an arm when a bomb exploded in Afghanistan, discovered the bike had been stolen on Wednesday.
He said he was "gutted" about the theft of the bike, which was worth about £6,000.
Ed Dunn, who is one of Worcester Warriors' sponsors, said he would like buy him a new one.
"I was pretty shocked to hear it," Mr Dunn said.
"And I wondered how we can help him out, this poor chap, and I thought, 'let's get him a new one'."
Mr Dunn said he hoped the new vehicle would help give the soldier back some of the freedom he had lost as a result of the theft.
L/Cpl Neathway, who now works at RAF Brize Norton, was injured by a booby trap bomb in Kajaki, Helmand Province, on 22 July 2008.
Asked how important the bike was to him, he said: "At first it was like massively important, because I had to wait for quite a while to get a car adapted and with the quad bike it's easy.
"It didn't need adapting whatsoever, so it gave me that freedom to get back on the road."
L/Cpl Neathway has learnt to walk using prosthetic limbs and was able to stand to receive his campaign medal from Prince Charles in December 2008.