SEVEN years ago this month, David Birrell, a Black Watch soldier with 1Scots in Afghanistan, suffered terrible injuries when an IED, an improvised explosive device, was detonated next to him.
His interpreter, who had stepped on the device, lost his life. Birrell was rushed to hospital, where his left leg was amputated. Surgeons tried to save his right leg with skin grafts, but that leg had to be amputated, too, a year after the incident.
He was also discharged from the Army – “a huge blow”, he says – and he missed it terribly. But now, still aged only 31, Birrell, from Methil, Fife, has shown amazing determination to carve out a new career as a race driver.
He operates his car by using special light prosthetic legs which mean that he can drive as well as an able-bodied man can – and in a car that has the normal clutch, brake and accelerator. His ambition is to become the first double-amputee ever to take part in the world-famous Le Mans 24-hour event, the world’s oldest sports-car endurance race.
Birrell, a father to two boys and a girl, has also started work on an eventual book that will tell the story of his life. And a number of film producers have expressed an interest in making a film about him.
“My ambition is to reach Le Mans, but obviously that all comes down to sponsorship and things like that”, Birrell said this week. “Hopefully, once I’ve raced at Le Mans, I’ll be writing a book about my journey. I’ve already started documenting what I’ve been doing so far, with video footage and other things."
The Le Mans race he has in mind will be in 2022, the event’s 90th anniversary. “I’m really looking forward to that. I can’t wait. At the moment, though, it’s all about processing things, about stepping stones. I’m basically trying to climb up onto the next step, all the time. My aim is to be a world champion one day.”
He adds: “I have boxed since I was a young boy. I wanted to continue boxing – I was supposed to turn professional just before I went to Afghanistan, but I took a couple of years out to go out there.
“But I ended coming back with my legs missing, so the professional side of things, in boxing, obviously fell through. So I decided to set ambitions in something else, but I didn’t know what to do until I did a bit of karting.
“And as soon as I began doing that I realised that what I really wanted to be doing was racing. It was a case of stepping forward from there, trying to get to things.
“It’s been a long five-year process but I’m here now and I’ve still got another few years to go before Le Mans.”
Birrell is supported by BLESMA, the limbless veterans’ charity, and on the race-track he is a member of Woodard Racing, who are endurance-racing specialists. Peter Woodard, the team’s head, initially wasn’t expecting much when he first saw Birrell drive, given that he was a double amputee. But, like many others, he was highly impressed with the way the Scot handled his car.
Birrell says that when he is behind the wheel of his race car, he simply tries to forget about his amputations. And he is, it turns out, a hugely determined character. “My whole life, I’ve always wanted to be someone. I want to leave a mark on the earth. I don’t want to live and not know who I was. I want everybody to know exactly who I am. I also want to make my kids proud of me.”
How does he feel about the idea of a film? “It’s very early days but the idea of a film does appeal to me. I think it will be a good way to inspire people through a real-life event. A young kid, who never had a very good childhood to start with, who joined the army, wanting to do 23 years but found it cut short through injury, and then took up a sport that basically nobody thought he’d be able to do.
“And then he sets out a massive goal and manages to achieve it. I think it will be quite a good movie to watch.”
Birrell was deeply touched a couple of weeks ago by the fate of the teenage race driver Billy Monger, who had to have both legs amputated after an accident on the track at Donington Park.
In the days afterwards, he reached out to Monger’s family in Surrey to offer his support whenever the Formula 4 racer is able to deal with his future. And yesterday , Birrell journeyed down south to talk to Billy.
A JustGiving appeal on behalf of the teenager has already raised £762,000 from 18,000 supporters, among them Jenson Button, the former F1 champion, who donated £15,000.
“I can really sympathise”, Birrell told a newspaper last week. “When I read that Billy had lost his legs I had tears in my eyes. It brought back a lot of bad memories for me. The pain is so bad. Mentally, especially, as you try and deal with it. You feel lost. You think you’ll never be able to do anything again.”
Birrell himself is proof that, despite catastrophic injuries, it is possible to rebuild your life. Le Mans 2022 is now his personal target, and he does not lack the tenacity or the willpower to make a real go of it.
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