I forgive the Taliban bomber who nearly killed me, says heroic ex-soldier

16 December 2023 , 22:28

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Double kayaking champion Jon White

Courageous Royal Marine Jon White has a strange prized possession – a photo of the Taliban bomber who made him a triple amputee.

Hero Jon, 40, would have every right to loathe the man he suspects of planting the ­roadside device that nearly killed him. But instead of being consumed by bitterness and anger, he has forgiven the bomber and is getting on with his life. The picture also spurs him on to excel in his chosen sport of kayaking.

He has just become a double world champion at the ICF Ocean Racing World Championships in Australia and is now on course to compete for Team GB in 2024’s Paris Paralympics. Jon, a captain with 40 Commando, was on the front line in Sangin, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in June 2010. He was near a Taliban stronghold when he and a military intelligence officer interviewed a suspect and took the photograph. But under the rules of engagement and due to a lack of evidence, they had to let him go.

Jon White in Helmand

Two weeks later, Helmand lived up to its reputation as the bloodiest battleground in the Afghanistan War. Jon was on foot patrol when he was blown up by an improvised explosive device, which he believes was planted by the man he quizzed. He said: “I thought, ‘Oh God, it’s me.’”

He had to have both legs amputated above the knee and his right arm above the elbow. Jon said: “It may seem extraordinary to some people, I have forgiven the person who laid the bomb that changed my life. Two years after the explosion I had an epiphany. I realised there were great things happening in my life which wouldn’t be there if I hadn’t stepped on the bomb.

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Jon has forgiven the bomber (pictured)

“There’s no point being angry I stepped on the bomb or at the man who laid that bomb. It was stopping me from living again. I’ve no idea if he’s still alive. I’ve gone through the process of forgiving him.”

After a painstaking recovery at Headley Court rehab centre in Surrey, Jon, of Tiverton, Devon, started kayaking to keep up with his two kids on Sunday walks. He said: “For the first two years everything I did was proving myself to others – the bomber included. Then my mindset became, ‘You can take my limbs from me but you can’t take my life away’.”

You can take my limbs but not my life, Jon says

Jon, who is separated, said: “I love racing. If there’s a chance to go to the Paralympics, that’s where the best in the world are. There’s been trauma, but I wouldn’t take it away as I have my children. That’s who we served our country for, to give the next generation a better place.”

Sarah Arnold