Arundel’s Remembrance Parade was attended by crowds of people, including The Duke of Norfolk and Paul Jacobs, who was blinded in Afghanistan almost 15 years ago, representing SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity.
Blinded and severely burnt in an explosion in Afghanistan aged 20, Paul spent years in rehabilitation, enduring operation after operation. Nearly 15 years on, he is showing the world that his traumatic brain injury and blindness is no obstruction to him remembering his fallen friends.
Paul said:
“It was a great privilege to lay this wreath on behalf of SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity. Those two minutes of silence always bring a lump to my throat. I was in The Rifles regiment and we lost so many men in Afghanistan. I don’t single one out, I just try to keep it together and get through the service.”
Paul was awarded the George Medal for his bravery in Afghanistan when he tried to save his colleagues, two of whom died in the same blast that took his eyesight.
“It was an honour to talk to The Duke of Norfolk, who was very supportive of my new charitable venture, the Eye Believe Project. I also want to thank Andrew Griffith, MP for Arundel and the South Downs, who donated £500 to Eye Believe after we had a chat about how I am raising money for SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity.”
Project Eye Believe is a fundraising challenge and the brainchild of Paul Jacobs and SSAFA Fundraising Officer, Richard “Frenchy” French (from Littlehampton), who is also an Army veteran, blinded in one eye.
With typical military dark humour, the slogan for the fundraiser is “10 Mountains, 7 Continents, 2 Veterans, 1 eye”. The pair will climb 10 of the highest mountains in the world, culminating in scaling Mount Everest in 2027.
If you are interested in helping Paul reach his £100,000 fundraising target visit givestar.io/gs/PaulJacobsGM
