TA hero saved Afghan girl (From South Wales Argus)

TA hero saved Afghan girl

11:20am Sunday 24th August 2008 in Gwent news By Natalie Crockett

A HEROIC Territorial Army solider from Tredegar, who saved the life of seven-year-old girl in Afghanistan, said his actions were all part of a day’s work.

Lance Corporal Matthew Narusberg, 35, from Nantybwch, performed a life-saving procedure on the girl who was shot in the chest and wrist.

The incident happened on July 26 when L Cpl Narusberg was in Afghanistan serving with the 144 Parachute Squadron.

The squadron, whose job it is to parachute from planes to treat casualties on the battlefield, had been called to an area in the district of Marjah where a British soldier had been injured in a gunfire fight with the Taliban.

When they arrived an Afghanistan national army soldier ran towards them shouting “doctor doctor”, followed by a local man who was cradling his dying daughter.

Quick-thinking L Cpl Narusberg took the girls into his basic treatment room, which was an old classroom with desks pushed together for a bed.

The girl’s breathing rate was dangerously high and air was building up in her chest, compressing her lung.

L Cpl Narusberg applied a seal to the wound on the girls chest, which allows fluid out but prevents more air getting in, to relive the build up of air.

After treating the girl’s wounds and giving her fluids for an hour, the medical emergency response team arrived in a helicopter amid dangerous gunfire to take her to hospital, along with the injured British soldier.

Ten days after his heroic act, the pair were reunited at Camp Bastion Hospital. L Cpl Narusberg doesn't know the girl's name, but he is hoping to visit her again when he returns to Afghanistan on Monday.

He said: “I was overjoyed to see her sitting up in bed and talking, then she smiled at me and shook my hand after we were introduced.

“It was probably the most humbling moment of my life, I could feel myself welling up.”

Col Martin Green, deputy commander for 160 Brigade Wales, thanked Matthew and his team: “The efforts of Matthew and his team are invaluable in Afghanistan where they are working alongside local people to provide them with the help and support they need.

“The surgeon who eventually saw the injured child said if it wasn’t for his actions she would have died.”

But L Cpl Narusberg says it was all in a normal day’s work: “Everyone out there is doing the same type of things that I did, it’s just our job.

“Even if all I did was to save one life, it was worth me being there just for that and I would do it again.”

L Cpl Narusberg is currently back home in Tredegar on leave but will return to Afghanistan on Monday (aug 25) for another six weeks' service.

Territorial soldier is on third tour of duty

L Cpl Narusberg completed a sports science degree at the University of Glamorgan in 2001, and has been part of the Territorial Army for 15 years. He joined the 144 Para Squadron and is a fully trained medic. This was his third operational tour abroad after serving in Iraq and Northern Ireland. He is currently undergoing a year’s full time service with the army, which includes six months in Afghanistan and six months with the Regular Army 16 Close Support Medical Regiment, based in Colchester. When he finishes his time he hopes to join the ambulance service but will remain as a member of the TA. He has worked as a course administrator at UWIC, and lived in Finland for a year.