Middleton medic in Afghan charity challenge

Andy Smith

Royal Air Force Flight Lieutenant Andy Smith, a Paramedic from Middleton serving on the Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT) in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan is putting himself through a gruelling challenge to raise money for the British Limbless Ex Service Men’s Association (BLESMA) and Combat Stress.

Mr Smith, 41, is attempting to complete 160 press ups and 160 sit ups everyday until he reaches 20,000; by his calculations it will take him 62.5 days to complete the task.

Not content with providing life saving care to servicemen currently serving in Afghanistan, Mr Smith decided he wanted to do more.

Sadly, it was when an RAF Regiment gunner, Senior Aircraftmen Kinikki Griffiths was the 320th serviceman to die that Mr Smtih, as an ex RAF Regiment Gunner, decided he would set himself the challenge.

He took the number 320 and gave himself the target of completing this many exercises a day, split between press ups and sit-ups.

He decided to continue until he had reached a target of 20,000. Mr Smith joined the RAF in 1985 and gained his commission to become a Paramedic in 2006.

Mr Smith said: “I wanted to do more and decided on this challenge because it is something that I believe I can achieve while on duty with the MERT. BLESMA and Combat Stress are charities both very close to my heart.

“BLESMA helps not only serving personnel who have lost limbs, but ex service men and women and their dependants and widows and Combat Stress specialises in the care of Veterans' mental health.”

This is a serious challenge for Mr Smith because his MERT role sees him on call at the flight line for 24 hours and then on call for a further 24 hours at the hospital. This routine continues for his 3 month tour.

Sadly, Mr Smith and his MERT colleagues are frequently called to the aid of injured soldiers in the field providing life saving care in the air. His team, which is made up of a Doctor, 2 Paramedics and a Nurse from the Royal Air Force are all right behind him, supporting him in his endeavours. 

Mr Smith has already raised approximately £700; if you would like to find out more about BLESMA please go to www.blesma.org or Combat Stress at www.combatstress.org.uk or visit Andy’s just giving pages at: www.justgiving.com/320Challenge