Former soldier blinded in one eye loses £2,000 glass eye collection

A former soldier who was blinded in one eye after being shot by a sniper during the Iraq war is hoping to track down his lost glass eye collection worth just over £2,000.

Simon Brown, 39, misplaced the collection while on a Virgin Train from Leeds to London during one of six trips made in December.

The brown tupperware box contains 16 glass eyes of varying designs, including a Union Flag, Yorkshire White Rose, and a dartboard which cost around £150 each.

Simon only noticed it had gone missing in the new year when he went to change his 'Rudolph reindeer ' eye he had been wearing over the Christmas period.

The mishap comes just a month after the 11-year anniversary of when Simon was left with only 20% vision in his right eye after a sniper bullet ripped into his face.

The former corporal is now worried he may have to fork out to replace the collection he has stockpiled over 10 years and is appealing for help to track down the lost collection.

While serving in Basra, Iraq, Simon helped rescue six colleagues who were coming under fire after their vehicle broke down.> But during the mission, Simon, who was a Corporal in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers at the time, was shot in the face by a sniper while withdrawing from the area.> The bullet entered Simon's left cheek and exited through his right, causing severe facial injuries.> Simon was given emergency treatment in Basra and put into an induced coma.>His cheekbones and nose were reconstructed using titanium, his jaw broken and remoulded and a prosthetic eye fitted.