Army nurse from Knowsley walks again in memory of dad after being shot in Afghanistan

• This report by Granada Reports journalist Zoe Muldoon was broadcast before Tony set off on his walk.

An Army nurse who was shot and told he would never walk again has walked further than he has in 12 years - by hiking 12 miles in memory of his late father.

Tony Williams, from Knowsley, retraced the footsteps dad Stephen made whilst waiting to hear if his son had survived a Taliban gunfight.

Afghanistan veteran Tony, 38, wore a leg brace provided by Help for Heroes, with the walk raising money for the the military charity.

He said: "In 2010 my parents received the dreaded knock at the door and were told that two soldiers had been killed and one was in a critical condition - they couldn’t identify which one of those three soldiers I was.

"In shock, my dad needed to clear his head so left the house in Knowsley and, in his words,'walked aimlessly searching for answers in the night sky', up the East Lancashire Road untilhe got to the corner of a cemetery. 

"The reality that it could be me buried there was enough for him to walk back home and find comfort in his own family.”

Tony, an Ambassador for Help for Heroes, added: “When my dad got diagnosed with brain cancer, he talked about the dreadful night they got that knock at the door in loads of detail and we calculated the route he walked.

"He died earlier this year aged 61 and he would be turning 62 on September 2.

"My father was a retired Warrant Officer, and a keen supporter of Help for Heroes for all they have done for me, so we wanted to turn the challenge into a fundraising memory walk in his honour.”

Setting off from Knowsley village, Tony and his family and friends walked along the A580 to the Carr Mill pub in St Helens and then back again, with the aim of raising more than £1,000.

As an Army nurse in Afghanistan, he risked his life to keep his comrades safe but it was during a fierce firefight with the Taliban in 2010, that Tony was shot.

He was flown back to the UK and was in a coma for six days. He needed 52 units of bloodand 36 hours of surgery.

“Several times I was told ‘Sit down, you’re not going to walk, accept reality’," he said. "It caused a huge strain on my mental health.

“I was strongly thinking about getting my leg amputated, just to increase mobility. It seemed there was nothing available to help me.

"That prompted me to contact Help for Heroes. I wont lie, I was desperate."

With the charity's support Tony was given the leg brace and physiotherapy.

He can now play football with his daughters Holly, eight, Ellena, seven, and Sophie, seven, and is looking forward to walking his bride, Maria, down the aisle when they marry.

“I’ve now got my own business. I’m a parent governor of two schools. I feel like a productive member of society again; rather than an injured veteran, stuck on my couch, in pain, feeling unemployable," he said.

Tony added: “The challenge is also in recognition of all the families who have suffered the same traumatic experience that my dad and my family went through.”

To donate to Tony’s Remembrance Walk visit his Just Giving page.