British soldier 'picked up live grenade and threw it back to Taliban'
British soldier who picked up live grenade and threw it back to Taliban describes ordeal
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Tuesday, 09, Mar 2010 01:39
By inthenews.co.uk staff.
A British soldier has told of how he threw a live hand grenade back to Taliban forces when it landed at his feet.
Rifleman James McKie said the explosive devise hit his platoon commander during a battle in the Sangin area of Helmand Province and then landed at his feet.
The 29-year-old soldier, who is originally from New Zealand, made the quick-thinking decision to save his life and those of his two comrades nearby, choosing to pick up the grenade and throw it back.
"I remember thinking that if I didn't pull this off, it was going to hurt," he said. "But at that stage I was pretty much committed."
Split seconds after the grenade left his hand it exploded in mid-air. His commander Captain Graeme Kerr suffered leg injuries and is now recovering at Selly Oak Hospital in the UK, while Rifleman McKie sustained minor injuries to his face.
Rifleman James McKie, from Recce Platoon, 3rd Battalion The Rifles, was under fire from three directions on a roof when the incident happened.
"As I picked it up, my thoughts were for the other guys with me - Captain Graeme Kerr and Rifleman Holtman. We had lost Corporal Green the day before.
"I didn't want to go through that again, and I wasn't prepared to see another guy from our platoon get hurt. I'd rather that it was myself than someone else. So I got my body behind the grenade and managed to throw it off," he added.