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Old solider Don amazes medics
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| Say it with flowers - Don Sheppard hands a bouquet to Angela Smith MP |
A SECOND Wold War veteran has astounded medics after a chest scan revealed he has been walking around with German shrapnel wedged in his lungs for more than 64 years.
Former Royal Engineer Don Sheppard feared he was suffering from cancer when he was sent for the procedure at Basildon Hospital.
Although the scan showed the 87-year-old former soldier was clear of disease, it did flag up an extraordinary foreign body lurking inside him.
Don had some tense times dodging bombs, bullets and shrapnel during his time serving in the highly regarded 51st Scottish Division.
The devoted dad and grandad was part of the Normandy D-Day landings of June 1944, when Allied troops landed in occupied France.
Don considered himself lucky to return home unscathed, although he did have a near miss when his regiment battled to secure Pegasus Bridge in Ouistreham, France, from the invading Germans.
"I can't actually remember ever being badly hurt, apart from once when a bomb exploded close to me and sent some shrapnel into my leg, which was at Pegasus Bridge," he said.
"The landings were hectic, though, and there was simply no time to worry about injuries which weren't life threatening.
"Perhaps the shrapnel somehow made its way to my lungs as well. I just have no idea."
Don, who lives in Methersgate, Basildon, with his wife Sandra, 65, said of his recent visit to Basildon Hospital: "The consultant sat me down and said she had some good and bad news for me.
"I said I'd have the good news first and she told me I was fit and healthy.
"The bad news was they found some shrapnel on my lungs."
Since the metal fragment is causing no discomfort to Don, doctors have decided to leave it where it is.
Don made a poignant trip back to Pegasus Bridge in 2004 to mark the 60th anniversary of D-Day.
His visit was filmed by BBC's Newsround programme.
Don said: "I took my granddaughter Daisy along with me. It was quite an emotional trip.
"At one point I met up with a German soldier who had been on the bridge when we invaded. He told me when he saw us Allied troops running towards him he threw down his gun and ran and hid in a hedge, which was quite amusing."
Don, who is chairman of the Normandy Veterans' Association, Southend and District Branch, kept the story secret from his pals at their annual dinner and dance on Saturday.
Guest of honour was Basildon MP Angela Smith, who Don presented with a bouquet of flowers.
He added: "It's quite strange to think it's been there in my lungs all this time. I've had a few indepth chest scans over the years, but none of them have ever shown it, until now.
"It doesn't hurt at all, so there's no point in removing it - not at my age!"
4:27pm Wednesday 19th March 2008
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CommentPosted by: Watching You, Southend on 9:44pm Wed 19 Mar 08
Don, I wish you many, many more years of happiness and health! If it were not for you and your fellow servicemen & women, we wouldn't be here now! Thank you all for what you have done.
Don, I wish you many, many more years of happiness and health! If it were not for you and your fellow servicemen & women, we wouldn't be here now! Thank you all for what you have done.
Posted by: piano hinges on 8:06am Thu 20 Mar 08
Absolutely.
All the best Don.
Absolutely.
All the best Don.
Posted by: Kim Gandy, Rayleigh on 8:20am Thu 20 Mar 08
It is the likes of Don that we ought to be celebrating. It is him and his like that should be admired and held up as role models
Not gutter=dwelling yobby celebrities who can't even string two passable words together.
Let us remember that it is Don's generation that made it so that we are free to speak our minds.
And let us ensure that we are not further robbed of our freedoms and liberties by those who would undo the work of Don and his like.
We owe it to them all, to fight against the tyranny of European interference and the drip drip effect of this government's dastardly machinations against the people of our country.
Don is a hero in the most magnificent sense and we should look after and respect him and others like him.
It's time we thanked these people properly. There is Remembrance day every year but that is for those who died.
The ones still alive should be given the highest honour.
It is the likes of Don that we ought to be celebrating. It is him and his like that should be admired and held up as role models
Not gutter=dwelling yobby celebrities who can't even string two passable words together.
Let us remember that it is Don's generation that made it so that we are free to speak our minds.
And let us ensure that we are not further robbed of our freedoms and liberties by those who would undo the work of Don and his like.
We owe it to them all, to fight against the tyranny of European interference and the drip drip effect of this government's dastardly machinations against the people of our country.
Don is a hero in the most magnificent sense and we should look after and respect him and others like him.
It's time we thanked these people properly. There is Remembrance day every year but that is for those who died.
The ones still alive should be given the highest honour.
Posted by: Camperman, Essex on 9:37am Thu 20 Mar 08
Most veterans have a medal on their chest not metal on their chest.
Still it proves Iron is good for you.
Many healthy years left in him yet I bet!
Most veterans have a medal on their chest not metal on their chest.
Still it proves Iron is good for you.
Many healthy years left in him yet I bet!
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