Peter has sights set on tribute to mum

Published on Monday 28 January 2008 09:38

City soldier's colleagues in Iraq sign up to raise funds for cancer care in memory of tragic Sharon.

THE young soldier removes the magazine, squints down the barrel of the rifle and checks the chamber is clear. As he stands under the bright Basra sunlight, Lance Corporal Peter Paterson's every move is watched intently by a group of Iraqi Army recruits seated on the sand.

The Royal Scots Borderers soldiers are on the dusty training ground at Shaibah divisional training centre sharing their expertise with their Iraqi pupils. Peter, a skilled sniper, is demonstrating how to make a weapon safe as his sergeant gives a running commentary on his actions.

Seeing the dad-of-three so wrapped up in his work, it is hard to believe it is only three months since the tough-looking Lance Corporal from Edinburgh's Southside lost his mother to leukaemia.

But the 23-year-old is putting a brave face on his grief while he sees out his tour in Basra, where he is an essential part of a team of soldiers drilling the Iraqi Army in British discipline and methods.

Sharon Byrne, 42, of Rankeillor Street, in Newington made a desperate appeal for a bone marrow donor in the Evening News last year. Hundreds of people offered to be donors but sadly tests proved that none of the volunteers was a suitable match.

Mrs Byrne, a mum of three and a grandmother of the same number, went to her doctor in 2004 because she felt tired all the time. But it wasn't until a year later that she was diagnosed with myeldysplastic syndrome, which developed into acute leukaemia.

In September last year, after two years of chemotherapy tablets and blood transfusions, the former care assistant was given the devastating news that nothing more could be done. Her only hope was a bone marrow transplant.

Sharon was determined to fight to the end and her husband Patrick, 43, said the phone never stopped ringing with people offering to be donors. Peter even persuaded soldiers at Dreghorn Barracks to see if they were compatible. But doctors were unable to find a perfect match.

She died on November 9 at the Marie Curie Hospice at Fairmilehead, a day after Peter was due to begin his six-month tour in Iraq. The officer commanding Mons Company kept a regular check on Peter's mum's condition and the young soldier was given compassionate leave, flying out to Iraq three weeks after Sharon's death.

Far from his wife Maxine, 24, and three children PJ, five, Connor, three, and Ayden, two, Peter admits he has drawn heavily on the support of his colleagues to see him through his grief. Speaking in Shaibah, he said: "I came to Iraq on November 28. It was really tough coming out here. But I was going to go on a bender if I hadn't come out. Fortunately my pals here have been supportive."

Sharon's last outing was a trip to Portobello, where she sang karaoke with her family and friends the Sunday before she died. The regular attendee at New Restalrig Parish Church had been baptised in hospital a few weeks previously.

In a touching example of soldiers' camaraderie every member of Mons Company, Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland has signed up to raise funds for the Marie Curie Hospice through a gruelling desert half-marathon.

Though he says he will never get over his mother's premature death, Peter is focused on the charity run and is already in training. In fact, he and his family will be taking part in another fundraising event when he is home on his leave in a few weeks' time. "I've passed the message back home and I'll be home to do the Edinburgh half marathon for Marie Curie on March 16," he pledges, "All my family will be there – my dad, my brothers and my nana."

In May, the soldiers will run 13 miles around the training base at Shaibah. To avoid the full blast of the desert heat they will begin the challenge in the early hours of the morning. Some will be wearing fancy dress, but others will be doing the arduous run in desert combats, complete with weighty body armour and rucksacks.

The Officer Commanding of Mons Company, Major Iain Addinell, says the company's soldiers will be taking home a sponsorship form when they leave Iraq for their mid-tour break.

He will also be encouraging them to put links on social networking web pages to raise as much as possible.

He says: "It's important because it is directly relevant to one of our soldiers. The Marie Curie Hospice looked after Lance Corporal Paterson's mother's needs and let her die with dignity. It has touched all of us. He's a popular guy."

The men will run in the old airfield. "We'll begin at 4.30am because we will be in 35-40 degrees of heat during the day. Some of the men might do it with their full kit on as pre-training for promotion. The others will be in fancy dress. I'm not sure how the Iraqis will take to it," quips the officer, "It will be a Friday, their day of prayer, so we won't interrupt their training schedules."

Mons Company runs training programmes to show the Iraqi Army how to perform common soldiering tasks, such as conducting house searches, running vehicle checkpoints and learning to spot improvised explosive devices. The men work hard at getting their Iraqi counterparts fit and able to deal with the challenges of their country on their own.

Peter has been a soldier for seven years. Always a keen sportsman, he joined the Army for the physical challenges it offered. "I'm into fitness so I saw being in the army as a fitness challenge," he says. "I'm quite sporty. If I was at home I'd be playing golf at Carrick Knowe Golf Club or in Dalkeith. I also play football with my friends in Holyrood Park at weekends."

His dangerous occupation often gave his mum cause to fret, but Peter says she was always behind him and he is glad to raise money for the place that helped her in her final hours.

"My mum spent her last week at the Marie Curie Hospice and they were absolutely brilliant," he recalls sadly, "You couldn't have asked for a better place."

&#149 To sponsor the soldiers in Iraq log on to: www.justgiving.com/monscompanycharityevent

&#149 To sponsor Peter's family in the Edinburgh Half Marathon, call Paddy Byrne on 0131-662 1727.

IN SEARCH OF DONORS

THE Anthony Nolan Trust helps people with leukaemia by providing lifesaving donors for patients in need of a bone marrow transplant.

The charity manages and recruits new donors aged 18-40 to the UK's biggest bone marrow register. It also carries out research to improve the effectiveness and safety of bone marrow transplants.

Fewer than 30 per cent of patients who need bone marrow transplants are able to find a compatible donor within their own families. The rest rely on the generosity of strangers who act voluntarily.

Since 1974, the Anthony Nolan Trust has helped to give more than 5800 children and adults a new chance of life.

To join the register or give a donation call: 0207-284 1234 or log on to: www.anthonynolan.org.uk

PERSONAL MESSAGES FROM CITY SOLDIERS

&#149 Private Ryan Herriot

&#149 Private Barry O'Driscoll

&#149 Corporal Peter Pearson