Burscough TA medic tells of thank you letter from man whose life she saved in Afghanistan

Oct 15 2009 by Gemma Jaleel, Ormskirk Advertiser

Burscough TA medic tells of thank you letter from man whose life she saved in Afghanistan

A TA MEDIC from Burscough who spent four months in Afghanistan has received a letter from a man whose life she saved.

Tracey Smith-Straney, 41, was overwhelmed when she read the few lines from the commanding officer of one of the seriously wounded soldiers she had helped, saying he had survived and since become a father.

Tracey works as biomedical scientist, running vital blood tests at Aintree Hospital and has been in the TA for 20 years.

She told the Advertiser: “It was lovely news. This young lad was in the Special Boat Service and he’d been shot in both legs and the pelvis by the Taliban. He really was in a terrible way.”

In 2007, Tracey travelled to Afghanistan along with seven other Aintree hospital staff, including doctors and nurses, who also volunteer with the Liverpool-based Territorial Army medical unit.

They formed the 208 (Liverpool) Field Hospital, working from tents in blistering 45 degree heat.

Stationed in the British Army enclave of camp Bastion, in the notoriously dangerous Helmand province, she was tasked with arranging blood supplies for injured troops.