Afghanistan

Chapter 23- The dying of the light (from ‘A Girl like Alice’)

Through the mist of her pain she saw the door gunner waving her out of his line of fire but, before she had time to react, Mac grabbed her, pulling her out of the way and towards the aircraft. Bullets whined and buzzed, kicking up the dirt all around. It was almost as if she had been deliberately targeted to the exclusion of all others. She reached for the door sill with the deafening rattle of the door gun right by her left ear. Without her injury she would have vaulted into the helicopter in the same manner that she mounted her horse, with an ease that appeared to defy gravity. This time, however, she had to turn around to hitch her bottom onto the edge and was facing towards the battle, leaning back to push herself inside, when a second bullet found her.

It entered her body just below her right breast, parting a rib, and exited just above her right shoulder blade. Alice gasped with surprise and shock but felt no pain. It was as if she had been thumped by a mailed fist. She felt winded, unable to catch her breath and was dimly aware of being pulled inside to lie on the floor. There was a bedlam of noise as the aircraft took off. The helmeted door gunner turned briefly to look at her, his face a mask of incredulity, then he turned away and continued firing.

For a moment she was aware of the metallic taste of blood in her mouth and a feeling of intense cold- then- there was no feeling at all.

Khalida and Roxanna wept uncontrollably in their deep anguish, as the only person, other than their father, who had ever really cared about them, lay in an expanding pool of blood.

Alice’s body began to shake violently as she went into shock. Mac bent over to assist Bill, as he set about the desperate task of trying to keep her alive.

No-one noticed the magnificent sunset, as the helicopters thundered towards the Pakistan border, in the dying of the light.

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Katie Piper: My Beautiful Face

One of the most moving documentaries I have seen on television in recent times is, 'Katie: My Beautiful Face'. For those on another planet, it is the story of Katie Piper, a young 25 year old model and TV presenter, who, about a year ago, was badly disfigured when her vile boyfriend raped her and then hired another moron to throw sulfuric acid in her face. The programme covered her traumatic journey from the incident, through her treatment, by a brilliant cosmetic surgeon, Mohammad Ali Jawad, to the present day.

By coincidence, I had read a novel called, 'The Gargoyle', by Andrew Davidson http://bit.ly/1xaxor . It is a brilliant and thought provoking read in itself, but the thing that impressed me most was the detailed description of the treatment undergone by the principal character, who suffered 90% burns in a car accident. I was therefore fully briefed and could identify with Katie's experience.

Immediately after the attack, Katie ran, screaming, into a café. If only, if only, if only, someone had had the presence of mind to pour cold water over her, instead of standing by while an ambulance was called. The water would have neutralized the acid. But it occurred to me that there is so little science taught in schools, these days, that it's possible that no-one, in the café, knew that water neutralizes acid.

However, the most poignant and inspiring feature of the whole piece was how this young girl's character and personality, shone like a beacon out of her ravaged face. To me it proved, once and for all, that real beauty is not just skin deep.

You will notice that I have studiously avoided mentioning her attackers.

Depressingly, there is no point in wondering how anyone could possibly do such a thing. Such people are in action all over the world. Not just here but in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, the Congo, to name but a few. In these countries women are often treated appallingly.

I remember that, as a young man (before I met my wife), all I wanted, to make my life complete, was a nice girlfriend. During my, often futile, hunt, I was constantly astonished at how often the best looking girls were attracted to the ugliest and most unpleasant men. Therefore it was no surprise, to me, that the beautiful Katie had taken up with a monster. What is, also, no surprise is that women often stay with such people no matter how badly they are treated. It must be something in the female psyche that is beyond 'normal' male understanding.

In Katie's case, I wonder if this man would have been in the country at all, if we had anything approaching an effective immigration policy.

Anyway, all the politics and social comment aside, I wish Katie all the luck in the world and much love in re-building her life, and I'm sure that, eventually, she will meet someone who has also noticed that beauty is not just skin deep.