Afghanistan crisis is 'soul-destroying' - war hero who lost both legs
A former soldier who lost both his legs while serving in Afghanistan says it is "soul-destroying" to see the country fall to the Taliban.
Scott Yarrington, from Bloxwich, was left fighting for his life following an IED blast while on patrol in Helmand Province in 2010.
The former Irish Guard said it was "depressing" to see what was happening in Afghanistan where he and so many other British servicemen and women sacrificed so much.
The 36-year-old said he tries to focus on the positives and all the good that was achieves by British and US troops but understands the feelings of family and friends questioning whether the intervention and lives lost was worth it.
Mr Yarrington said: "It's depressed me that it's gone that way. I would have loved it to have carried on and for the Afghan government to have taken control and put laws in place but to see we have come out and it has gone straight back to how it was is depressing and soul-destroying."
The former solider, who won a bronze medal in wheelchair basketball at Prince Harry's Invictus Games, added: "I try to cling onto the knowledge that when we were over there fighting there were kids five to 10 years old who have had 10 years of a better life."
The war hero was part of a team searching for improvised explosive devices along a bridge area when he stepped on one, suffering devastating injuries which led to him losing both his legs.
He believes US forces should not have left Afghanistan without helping the country to ensure it could resist the Taliban.
Mr Yarrington said: "They should have put something in place but that didn't happen. It is now up to governments all around the world."
