A MOTHER-of-four whose son was blasted at close range by an insurgent’s explosives said people had to be aware of soldiers’ sacrifices in Afghanistan.

The parents of injured Kingsman Shaun Aspin have spoken out for the first time of their ordeal after the 22-year-old was nearly crippled by an improvised explosive device in Helmand Province.

Former Park High pupil Shaun, of Colne Lane, Colne, who served with the King’s Division of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, is undergoing rehabilitation at his Catterick barracks.

He has had surgery in Birmingham to insert a metal plate in his spine where it shattered, and is recovering from shrapnel wounds to his arms and back.

But his mum Annette said: “We have been extremely lucky. It was the second worst thing a parent can be told, when their son is in the army.

“But when we went to see Shaun for the first time, in Birmingham, we saw lads in their 20s with missing limbs and horrific injuries.

“He has been through a lot but our hearts go out to all the other families.

“We just want to make people aware what these lads are going through and that they receive recognition for what they do.”

She has been told that, for every one of the 300 soldiers who have lost their lives in Afghan war, another four have been seriously hurt.

And whereas one plane per week was commissioned to return war casualties, at the start of the campaign, she believes that figure is now nearer to one per day.

Forces campaigners in Colne are staging a sponsored walk, from the town’s Union Exchange pub, in aid of soldiers’ charity Help For Heroes.

“I think it is fantastic what is being done. Shaun has got an eight-year-old niece, Ellie Hutchins, who will be taking part,” Annette said.

“It was all that Shaun ever wanted to do from when he was little.

"He still wants to go back on the frontline, but that is typical Shaun.

“There have been lots of people around town who have been asking about him and we would like to thank everyone for thinking of us.”