A ROYAL Marine dubbed the "commando who refused to die" has had his leg amputated three years after being blown up in Afghanistan – to allow him to play with his children.
Cpl Paul Vice suffered more than 100 significant wounds during the blast and "died" twice as he was airlifted back to Camp Bastion after the explosion in Helmand in 2011.
The 31-year-old from Exeter miraculously took 400 pieces of shrapnel in his body, suffered a broken neck, a stroke, a damaged left eye, was deafened in one ear, and has an enduring brain injury causing paralysis.
His life was saved after a colleague stuck his knee into his neck to stop the bleeding.
Paul's subsequent miraculous recovery and determined spirit saw him win two medals in the cycling and archery events at the Invictus Games organised for wounded servicemen by Prince Harry earlier this year.
But enduring problems with his left leg have stopped him from enjoying life with his wife Tessa and four children, Honey, Frankie, Alfie and Harley.
Paul made the decision to remove the troublesome limb and cameras followed him throughout the process for a documentary that will be screened on Forces TV later this month.
He told the programme: "The leg is crap – it does not do anything and I call it the wet fish. It does not do anything but cause me gip and pain and it cannot get any worse."
Paul is filmed during the documentary leaving a parting message on the soon to be detached limb. He wrote: "Dear leg, thanks for all the misery and admin you have caused over the last three years. See you later pal."
And he said: "I have gone through the stage of being depressed about why it happened and I have got over it.
"More importantly this is about my children. I cannot interact with them how I want. I want to be running and playing football with them. But at the moment I have problems just walking after them.
"As a family, we have all agreed that the best way forward for me is to have the leg amputated.
"I live in the here and now and my sole aim is to look after and give my children and family the best life they can get."
Paul was one of six injured during the blast, the others suffering broken bones, a brain injury and shrapnel wounds.
Recalling the incident, he said: "I lay there checking myself over to make sure I still had my limbs. I couldn't move my neck because it was broken but I remember seeing a massive pool of blood coming out of me and then felt and heard blood spouting out from my neck like a hose pipe.
"I didn't feel pain, just red hot – I thought I was on fire.
"When I felt the hole in my neck I knew it was an arterial bleed, so I thought that was it.
"That's when Richie came ploughing through the dust and stuck his knee into my neck."
Paul fought to stay conscious, at one point losing vision so all that was left was a pin prick of light while chest compressions were administered to bring him back.
He was evacuated back to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. A month later Paul embarked on his gruelling rehabilitation journey at Headley Court, the tri-service rehabilitation centre in Surrey.
During his tour with 42 Commando in 2011, Paul was filmed for the documentary Mission Afghanistan and became friends with filmmaker Chris Terrill. Chris returned to visit Paul to follow him through his amputation and to see how life has changed for him since his injuries.
The amputation, which is filmed throughout, provides the baseline for the film, which continually flashes back to Paul's recent past. This includes footage of him from the frontline and at the Invictus Games.
The documentary, entitled The Commando Who Refused to Die, will be broadcast on Friday, December 12, at 9pm on Forces TV on Sky 264, Virgin 244 and Freesat 652.
