Manchester Carling Cup walk Para wins insurance battle

[dutchman]

An injured Paratrooper who battled the odds to walk out at Wembley with the Carling Cup said he had won a compensation battle with insurers.

Private Dave Tatlock, of Manchester, was told he might never walk again after being hit by shrapnel in Afghanistan in July 2008.

But after he walked unaided onto the pitch in February he found out his insurance claim was under review.

Pte Tatlock, 20, of Gorton, said he was "thankful" it had now been settled.

"I'm just glad that is has been paid out now," he told the BBC.

"I'd have to say the hierarchy of the insurance company didn't actually know it was going on.

"I understand they've got thousands who are injured coming back from Afghanistan, so they can't be aware of all the cases."

Friendly fire

Pte Tatlock, who cannot go into details of the sum involved, said one member of staff at the company took up his case and battled on his behalf.

"I was confident it would get sorted... when he gave me the cheque I couldn't thank him enough."

The Para was hit by a 30mm round form an Apache helicopter during a friendly fire incident.

It left him with severe nerve damage and he now has no use of his calves or left foot, wears a splint to walk and can only move his right foot slightly.

Pte Tatlock spent weeks practising walking without his crutches after being invited to carry the cup ahead of the final between his beloved Manchester United and Aston Villa in February.

But it was after the televised match that he said he received a message informing him a £25,000 claim with Abacus Insurance was being reviewed.

He took out the £56 a month cover before being deployed to Afghanistan.

Abacus confirmed that it had contacted the soldier's social worker after his pitch side appearance, but said that his claim was already under review pending medical information.

No-one from the company could be reached for comment on Saturday.

[pollyanna]

I'm so pleased that this has now been resolved. It must have been very stressful for him waiting for it to be resolved - he has enough to contend with, without further stress.

[dutchman]

It doesn't say much for the MoD's own compensation scheme that servicemen consider it necessary to pay £56 a month to a private insurance company to secure a decent payment when they're disabled in the service of their country.

[pollyanna]

I couldn't agree more Dutchy - I thought it a little odd that he'd taken out his own insurance - and quite a hefty premium too!

[PoundShopPeter]

It doesn't say much for the MoD's own compensation scheme that servicemen consider it necessary to pay £56 a month to a private insurance company to secure a decent payment when they're disabled in the service of their country.

Yep, a very sorry state of affairs.