Hero British soldier shot in face by Taliban SPITS out the bullet

Hero: Lance Corporal Luke Reeson walked two miles with a broken jaw after being shot by the Taliban in Afghanistan

A brave British soldier who was shot in the face by the Taliban spat out the bullet - then walked nearly two miles for treatment before being rushed home for an emergency operation.

Lance Corporal Luke Reeson, 22, was on patrol in Nad-e-Ali in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan when the insurgent's bullet hit his Osprey body armour.

But the bullet ricocheted off , smashing into his lower cheek and back out through his mouth.

Despite the bullet shattering his jaw, Lance Corporal Reeson from Torquay in Devon, managed to walk three kilometres with his injury to get medical aid.

The soldier, who was shot in May while serving with the 1 Duke of Lancashire Regiment, Somme Company, has now returned to active duty in Afghanistan.

Luke's mother Kim Reeson, 43, has dubbed her son Desperate Dan after the strong-jawed cartoon character.

The mother-of-three explained how the bullet bounced off Luke's body armour, went up into his lower cheek just below his ear, and broke his jaw before bouncing back out through his mouth.

'His body armour saved him - 100 per cent,' said Mrs Reeson. 'Had it not been for that it would have been a different situation.

'It went in and bounced out like a running stitch.'

Mrs Reeson added that her 'incredibly lucky' 6ft 5in son had 'a cast-iron jaw'.

'Luke phoned me from Camp Bastion to tell me that he had been injured but he couldn't tell me any of the details,' she said.

'It was a really huge relief to see him up in bed, with a face like Desperate Dan.'

Painful: Lance Corporal Reeson's jaw was shattered when the bullet hit his body armour and ricocheted into his mouth

Luke walked three kilometres back to his unit with his Bergen rucksack on his back to receive treatment before being placed in a military hospital at Camp Bastion for 24 hours.

He was then flown back to the military ward at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham.



Just three weeks later Luke drove himself to his regiment's base in Catterick, North Yorkshire, and rejoined his colleagues in Afghanistan.

'His injury could have been a lot worse but it was very, very minor,' said Mrs Reeson.



'Luke is being highlighted because of me, but there are soldiers from every county and village from around the country who have never been noticed for their commitments.

'The soldiers that give the ultimate sacrifice should be on the front page but for every soldier that comes home in a coffin, there are 10 to 15 that are injured and never get heard about.'