An ex-Royal Marine and triple amputee who had his prosthetic legs stolen from his car and then returned to him today thanked the woman who found them.
Mark Ormrod from Plymouth, Devon, woke up on Wednesday morning to find thugs had destroyed his vehicle whilst it was parked in a disabled space outside a Premier Inn in Chiswick, London, stealing the legs and a bag of gym clothes.
But a woman then got in contact with him and told him she had found the prosthetic legs and his belongings in an alley by her house at 8pm on Tuesday night.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain today, Mark said: ‘The legs that were taken, that’s 50 per cent of my life and independence.
‘They are special legs designed specifically for me that I use to take my children to the beach, to go in the ocean, I train at the gym, I do all stuff around the house in them.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain today, Mark said his prosthetic legs were essential to his life
Mark brought the prosthetics onto the show with him to show both of the interviewers
‘They are very, very important to me and my independence. That was the biggest thing for me, I was a bit gutted that they were gone.
‘What kind of person would target a car parked in a disabled bay?’
Mark lost both legs and his right arm in a bomb blast in Afghanistan in 2007
He who was awarded the MBE, is called ‘Iron Man’ by his three children and in 2021 he was given the ‘freedom of Plymouth’ by the city council for his fund-raising work.
He has so far raised more than £500,000 through different challenges to support veterans.
His achievements include raising more than £150,000 in a 5km run using prosthetic legs to raise money for the Reorg charity in March.
He added to GMB of the theft: ‘I put a post out saying what had happened.
‘By the evening and I had a bunch of messages from a lady. It caught my eye because she had sent photographs of my bags.
‘She said I’ve found your stuff in the alley behind my house and I want to bring it back to you in the hotel.
A woman then got in contact with the war hero and told him she had found the prosthetic leg dumped in an alley by her house at 8pm on Tuesday night
Mark with the two prosthetic legs which were returned to him after a lady found them in a bag
‘So on the way back to the hotel I was saying that’s amazing, I’ll be back in ten minutes, can you come meet me and then she did.
‘I was in a conversation with the hotel manager at the time she came out the lift and gave me the bags, everything was in there.’
The military man was serving in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on Christmas Eve in 2007 when he detonated a Taliban booby-trap that ripped off both his legs and his right arm.
Medics pronounced him dead twice while evacuating him from the battlefield. However, despite his horrific injuries, the courageous Commando managed to pull through, becoming the UK’s first triple amputee to survive the war.
Incredibly, in spite of being told by doctors he’d never walk again, Mark defied all the odds and used his prosthetic legs to march onto the parade ground and collect his tour of duty medal just five months after being blown.
Mark was spending the night in the hotel and awoke to find his car broken into
The war hero, lost both legs and his right arm in a bomb blast in Afghanistan in 2007, posted a video of the break-in on his social media pages
Since then, he’s continued to astound, running 3,500 miles across the US and cycling 3,000 miles in the UK for charity – as well as competing in the Invictus Games, an athletics contest for wounded troops.
His charity endeavours have even led to him working alongside Hollywood actor Tom Hardy, who he counts as a pal, and Prince Harry – who proudly dubbed Mark Britain’s own ‘superman’ after meeting the inspirational veteran while he was recovering.
Now, 16 years after cheating death, married father-of-three Mark revealed a potential TV programme about his life is in the works as he declared 2024 would be ‘his year’, adding: ‘I love being alive and I love my life. Losing my limbs made my life better.’
Mark was second-in-command of a patrol circling their remote Forward Operating Base when tragedy struck in 2007.
He triggered the hidden explosive after kneeling down on a patch of high ground, with the blast sending Mark flying through the air in a cloud of dust and debris, before falling back into a huge crater.
Dazed, Mark thought he was under attack and scrambled to try find his rifle. It was only when the dust cleared that he realised the full horror of his situation – and the savage extent of his injuries.
‘I was lying naked and dying in the desert. I just thought I can’t live like this. I turned to the corporal and shouted: ‘Stick a bullet through my head’,’ he says.
The Royal Marine was second in command on his patrol through Helmand Province, Afghanistan when he detonated the device. He was pronounced dead twice but eventually pulled through
Now the married father-of-three has been reliving his miraculous escape as he marked the 16th anniversary of his brush with death with his family (Mark pictured with wife Becky, son Mason, 12 and daughter Evelyn, 10)
Mark says since losing his limbs, he has come to terms with his injuries and says he is now the man he was always meant to be (he is pictured with Prince Harry at the 2017 Invictus Games)
‘I was serious. I remember lying there thinking that I would feel like someone had punched me in the back of the head and then it would go black and it would be okay.’
His comrades screamed ‘man down’ and a medic was rushed out from the base just a few minutes away.
Life-saving tourniquets were applied to his limbs and, despite the blood loss, Mark was able to take in the scene unfolding around him.
As his fellow Marines fought to save his life, Mark admitted he felt ’embarrassed’ and ‘ashamed’ at having triggered the bomb, which he feared now put his comrades in danger.
‘I was starting to feel guilty. I only had one daughter, she was two. I was thinking about how can I have a relationship with her. All her life problems will be my fault. She will be bullied and picked on, this is all in 10 seconds,’ says Mark, of Plymouth.
‘It was guilt shame and embarrassment. I said ‘look, just shoot me’. I had put them in danger I would be a burden to my family I would have rather died a hero.’
Unbeknown to Mark and his fellow green berets, he was surrounded by six other mines which miraculously weren’t triggered during the operation to rescue him. The were only found by an America military team sent in to clear the area afterwards.
He can recall being lifted into a vehicle which drove him to an emergency helicopter. As it accelerated up a hill, Mark started to slide out – with a colleague managing to hold him inside by grabbing his shattered and exposed femur bone.
After a herculean rescue effort, which saw Mark being pronounced dead twice, he was eventually flown to Birmingham’s Selly Oak Hospital, where all wounded servicemen are treated.
Since losing his limbs, Mark has gone on to incredible things in his personal life – which has seen him winning awards for raising more than £500,000 for charity.
He has become firm friends with Prince Harry, who is the founder of the Invictus Games, and was pictured smiling with the Duke of Sussex and Meghan Markle in September, with the trio even singing Sweet Caroline together as they watched 2023’s tournament.
Prince Harry (left) once called Mark Britain’s very own ‘Superman’ after first meeting him. The pair have remained pals since, and were sat next to one another at the 2023 Invictus Games
Mark (left) even shock hands with the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle as they cheered on competitors at the contest in Duesseldorf, Germany, in September
Mark first met Prince Harry and his brother Prince William (middle) during his time recovering at Hedley Hospital in April 2008, four months after his legs and arm were blown off
More recently, Mark has become a trustee of Reorg, a charity that helps military and emergency service personnel through the martial art of Brazilian jiu-jitsu – a form of wrestling he has grown to love, despite only having one arm.
And his work with the charity has seen him pairing up with fellow trustee and Hollywood star Tom Hardy, 46.
Speaking of his celebrity pals, Mark said: ‘It doesn’t feel surreal to know Tom Hardy and Prince Harry. I don’t know why. They’re just normal people. You can see these people on television and put them on this pedestal. Some people can freak out.
‘Prince Harry and his brother were so chilled out. They’re just normal people. They have the same fears and doubts I have and the same insecurities. They’re all regular people trying to get through their life.’
As well as his charity work, Mark is also doing his bit to support wounded Ukrainian servicemen – with plans to visit the country to speak to troops who have lost limbs during their fight against Russia.
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