by Kathryn Boast
1 October 2010
When Lee Grant was told that he would never walk or talk again, he had other ideas. The ex-soldier, who is now 22, suffered catastrophic injuries in a car crash in 2006 which killed his best friend and fellow soldier Gordon Pirie, while they were returning to Balmoral for royal protection duties.
He spent more than a year in hospital after the accident, five weeks of which was spent in a coma. He also sustained serious head injuries as well as fractures to his pelvis, ribs, eye socket, cheekbone and neck.
Incredibly, he has now fought back to a full recovery, and can once again walk and talk.
He has joined the Momentum scheme, based in Alford, near his hometown of Buckie in North-East Scotland, where he works as a programme co-ordinator to offer support for young people who have been involved in car crashes in the area.
“The best thing to do if someone says you can’t do something is to tell yourself you will do it,” he told the Press and Journal.
“When I was told I could never walk or talk again, I did what I was told to do in the Army, which is rise to the challenge.”