Off The Record

British Soldier Who Lost Leg In Iraq Shares Powerful Message That Everyone Should Read

Published on March 17, 2019

A British Army soldier who lost his leg in combat has gone viral again on Facebook for a post attacking Islamophobia.

A British Army soldier Chris Herbert, served in the British Army in Basra, Iraq. He lost his right leg when a bomb exploded next to his Land Rover back in 2007.

One of his friend and comrade, Private Luke Simpson lost his life in the same attack, and two other soldiers were injured.

Toe ambassador Chris Herbert @HerbiePegLeg graduated from @portsmouthuni today Well done couldn’t be more proud x pic.twitter.com/XBnrIpMIiH
— Toe in the Water (@toeinthewateruk) July 14, 2015

Chris was 19 back then when he was struck with his serious injury.

Just when everyone would usually generalize things and be furious to the entire Islamic Religion, Chris expressed his ‘frustrations’ on Facebook to people who thought that he would be racist after the incident.

In a post that has since been deleted, Herbert wrote:

Getting frustrated by some people expecting racism from me, because I got blown up. Here it is:
Yes. A Muslim man blew me up, and I lost my leg.
A Muslim man also lost his arm that day wearing a British Army Uniform.
A Muslim medic was in the helicopter that took me from the field.
A Muslim surgeon performed the surgery that saved my life.
A Muslim Nurse was part of the team that helped me when I returned to the UK.
A Muslim Healthcare Assistant was part of the team that sorted out my day to day needs in rehabilitation when I was learning to walk.
A Muslim taxi driver gave me a free ride the first time I went for a beer with my Dad after I came home.
A Muslim doctor offered my Dad comfort and advice in a pub, when he didn’t know how to deal with my medicines and side effects.

Herbert, who lives in Portsmouth, then explained why Islamophobia operates on a fallacious logic.

If you want to hate an entire race of men and women for the actions of a few d***heads feel free, but don’t push your views on me, thinking I am an easy target because one d******** decided it was my day to die.
Blaming all Muslims for the actions of groups like Daeshe and the Taliban, is like blaming all Christians for the actions of the KKK or Westboro Baptist Church.
Get a grip of your lives, hug your family and get back to work.

In the end he finished the post right on point: “Get a grip of your lives, hug your family and get back to work.”

The original Facebook post was shared nearly 125,000 times, according to CNN.

His powerful message of compassion and love put an end to many people who had the same fallacious logic about the Islamic Religion.

People left comments ranging from “You’re a wonderful person,” to “Amazing words”.

Even the world famous J.K. Rowling tweeted about the incredible story: