THE Scottish lacrosse community has said it will honour the memory of an "extraordinary man" who was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.
The chairman of Lacrosse Scotland, Keith Robertson, paid tribute to Private Robert Hetherington, one of the three soldiers who died on Tuesday, as it emerged a Borders soldier was among six injured in the incident.
Former Peebles High School pupil Private Neil Stansfield, 18, has been flown to Britain after suffering back injuries in the blast that claimed the lives of Pte Hetherington, Corporal William Savage and Fusilier Samuel Flint.
The three men died after their Mastiff armoured vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device on a routine patrol in Nahr-e Saraj, Helmand province. Mr Robertson said the lacrosse community had suffered an enormous loss following the death of American-born Pte Hetherington, who he said was "the best player we have developed here in Scotland".
"Bobby started at Stirling in 2005 at the age of 17 and started playing lacrosse," Mr Robertson said. "It became clear very early on that he would be a good player and a good leader and it wasn't long before he was playing for Scotland and at the European Championships.
"In 2010 he was ranked seventh in the world and in 2012 he captained Scotland. He was unquestionably the best player we have developed here in Scotland.
"It wasn't just his abilities as a player, but his leadership abilities – he just knew how to lead a team. He was an extraordinary man."
This weekend sees lacrosse's British National Championships take place in Manchester and Mr Robertson said a focus of the weekend will be to find a fitting way to remember Pte Hetherington and ensure the legacy of his No 4 jersey lives on.
He added: "In lacrosse you have 23 players on a team and the situation is very intense as you are with each other not just for two weeks solid during the European Championships, but beforehand at training. His death is a physical loss on the pitch and also a psychological loss.
"He was a confidant for so many people across the Scottish lacrosse scene. He was the one you could count on for a silly joke, the heart of the party.
"It is an immense loss. Now he's dead and that's going to make it a hard, emotional weekend. We will certainly do something very special for Bobby in the sport." Pte Hetherington, 25, was from 51st Highland, 7th Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland (7 Scots), while Cpl Savage, 30, and Fusilier Flint, 21, were both from the Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland (2 Scots).
The incident is the first case of British troops being killed in a Mastiff since the vehicles were introduced to the campaign in 2007.
The Ministry of Defence said the men were part of a patrol travelling along Route 611 between forward operating base Ouellette and patrol base Lashkar Gah Durai in Nahr-e-Saraj when their vehicle was hit.
Pte Stansfield is in Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, the specialist centre for injured troops. His brother Callum said: "We were all pretty worried about him since we first heard.
"He only went over six weeks ago and this is his first tour. It has been my brother's dream to be in the Army since he was a wee boy.
"I am just happy he is alive – he had a lucky escape."
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