"officially the luckiest man in the British Army"

**bigfootedfred** · April 20, 2009, 05:03 AM

A soldier has been described as "the luckiest in the British Army" after a bullet went through his helmet, but missed his head by 2mm.
Private Leon "Willy" Wilson, 32, a Territorial Army soldier from Manchester, was knocked over by the impact of the shot in Afghanistan.
But he was left without a mark after the bullet ripped through his headgear.
"The medic was looking queasy - I don't think anyone wanted to take my helmet off," Pte Wilson said.
The father of three was back on duty within an hour of the near-miss.
Defence chiefs pronounced Pte Wilson, who is on attachment with 2nd Battalion of the Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters) "officially the luckiest man in the British Army".

Pte Wilson was manning a machine gun during a fierce battle with the Taleban in Helmand Province when he was hit by the 7.62mm AK47 bullet, the Ministry of Defence said.

"I took my finger off the trigger when the shot hit my helmet," Pte Wilson said.
"I was knocked clean off my position and landed on my back. I had my eyes shut."
Pte Wilson, who usually works as an electrician, asked a comrade if he had been shot.
"He was just staring at me in amazement and swearing, and said 'Yes'," Pte Wilson said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/m...er/8007565.stm

**Pious Agnost** · April 20, 2009, 05:32 AM

Amazing

**Heinz Guderian** · April 20, 2009, 05:37 AM

He's from Manchester, probably happens all the time.

Gets shot in the head and then asks his buddy "have i been shot?".

**Nouvelle Vague** · April 20, 2009, 05:44 AM

Lucky guy. I'm sure it would be tough for anything to withstand and AK shot.

**Rapax** · April 20, 2009, 12:10 PM

Originally Posted by Tiberias

Lucky guy. I'm sure it would be tough for anything to withstand and AK shot.

Well technically nothing withstood the bullet, it just missed his head. Life and death are often millimeters apart.

**~~removeduser_487563287433~~** · April 20, 2009, 05:50 AM

Something to tell his grandchildren.

**0N3** · April 20, 2009, 05:55 AM

You gotta keep firing, dammit!

**Pious Agnost** · April 20, 2009, 05:58 AM

Originally Posted by 0N3

You gotta keep firing, dammit!

Erik?

**Каие** · April 20, 2009, 11:41 AM

Originally Posted by Ferrets54

Something to tell his grandchildren.

If he manages to survive the rest of his tour in that slaughter house

Originally Posted by Norge

This is newsworthy?

Aww, upset that he didn't die? Evil British soldier who causes poor Norwegians in Norges village to stay indoors. There is no God.

**Babur** · April 20, 2009, 08:06 PM

[quote=Яome kb8;5001253]If he manages to survive the rest of his tour in that slaughter house

Aww, upset that he didn't die? Evil British soldier who causes poor Norwegians in Norges village to stay indoors. There is no God.

yuh Norway only has like 490 troops in Afghanistan and they're based in the Northern Afghan province of Faryab:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

**Thanatos** · April 20, 2009, 07:57 PM

Originally Posted by Ferrets54

Something to tell his grandchildren.

Thankfully, he has the chance to have some. I'm glad for him.

**Farnan** · April 20, 2009, 06:41 AM

That guy may have used up all his luck for the rest of his life there. Wow, that would be something.

**Visna** · April 20, 2009, 06:48 AM

Dang... He better solve global climate change or something. Someone has plans for that guy.

**Farnan** · April 20, 2009, 06:51 AM

Originally Posted by Visna

Dang... He better solve global climate change or something. Someone has plans for that guy.

, didn't Hitler survive a near miss like that too in WWI?

, he may be the next world hero or the next Hitler...

**Visna** · April 20, 2009, 06:55 AM

Originally Posted by Farnan

, didn't Hitler survive a near miss like that too in WWI?

, he may be the next world hero or the next Hitler...

Should we take our chances or make sure he becomes neither?

**sdomi_cabsav@Hotmail** · April 20, 2009, 07:10 AM

Reminds me of saving private ryan.

**Mithie** · April 20, 2009, 07:51 AM

Natural 20 on reflex save.

**Norge** · April 20, 2009, 08:07 AM

This is newsworthy?

**Captain Jin** · April 20, 2009, 08:13 AM

I met a Marine at the hospital in Germany with a bandage around his head. Asked him what happened. He took a sniper round to the dome, the round penetrated the helmet, hit his skull but didn't go through. It skirted around his head then exited the other side of his helmet and lodged in his buddy next to him helmet. Pretty lucky indeed.

Also, a guy from my battalion was wounded three times in one deployment. First time by shrapnel from IED, second time from shrapnel from a mortar and finally at the end of the deployment he took a round through his neck that somehow managed to miss all his vital crap and he survived.

Another guy I knew was hit through both legs, severed both his femoral arteries and survived and went onto serve in Afghanistan less than a year later. You'd be amazed by how much luck is out there, fellas.