A FORMER Army nurse from Worcester will march alongside 10,000 others during the Cenotaph Service on Remembrance Sunday as part of the largest ever group of veterans supported by Help for Heroes.
David Hornsby, 50, whose 22-year military career included two tours in Afghanistan and two tours in Kosovo, a tour in Sierra Leone and five tours in Iraq, will honour the men and women he cared for, some of whom survived incredibly traumatic injuries and some who did not, at the annual event on Sunday, November 13.
The former Warrant Officer who specialised in Emergency Nursing, is now a Veterans’ Clinical Advisor at Help for Heroes which has been supporting members of the Armed Forces community to live well after service for 15 years. In that time, the military charity has helped over 27,000 veterans and their families.
David provides health coaching, advocacy and direct community support to veterans to enable them to successfully engage with the NHS services in their local communities.
“Remembrance is not just about one day – I think it’s all year round for veterans, but the ceremonies on Remembrance Sunday are an incredibly poignant focus for me,” said David who has organised Help for Heroes’ biggest ever attendance of veterans at the event.
“I was an Emergency Department nurse and was privileged to care for our wounded on operations, many of them experienced traumatic injuries that had previously been regarded as unsurvivable. Many more bear the scars of the events they witnessed, I’m now in the privileged position of being able to continue to support our wounded veterans.
“Remembrance Day reminds me of the operational tours I deployed on and those fellow veterans of all operations I can help now. Our Armed Forces community needs your help today and will continue to need it long into the future,” said David who has organised the biggest attendance from the military charity at this year’s event.
He will join more than 20 other veterans from Help for Heroes wearing distinctive tri-service colours when they march in the national Remembrance Sunday ceremony, held at the Cenotaph on Whitehall in London.
Originally from Chesterfield, David who served from 1993 until 2015 with the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps, added: “I feel incredibly privileged to be there, both as a veteran and as part of the Help for Heroes contingent. It is so important that we keep veterans’ needs in the public eye, along with the amazing work done by the whole Help for Heroes team.“
Find out how Help for Heroes can help the Armed Forces community live well after service www.helpforheroes.org.uk/get-help/ask-for-help
