Death of a hero

But for the father-of-four risking his life was simply part of the daily routine. In his own words he "wouldn't do anything else".

Today, family, friends, and colleagues are mourning the loss of the 40-year-old – killed doing the job he loved in the harshest of conditions.

The soldier, whose youngest son Ben was born just nine weeks ago, died while trying to disarm a Taliban bomb in Afghanistan on Wednesday.

Tributes to the former St Thomas of Aquin's pupil have flooded in – from those who worked alongside the "unbelievably brave" soldier to the Defence Secretary Des Browne and Edinburgh City Council leader Jenny Dawe. His heartbroken widow Toni told how he had died while "living the dream", while his commanding officer described him as a "simply brilliant individual".

Being hailed a hero was nothing new for the Warrant Officer Class 2 with the Royal Logistic Corps, who was known to friends as "Gaz".

He was awarded the George Medal last year for the incredible courage he displayed while serving in Iraq in 2006.

And he continued his life-saving work in Afghanistan, including one operation over the summer where he defused eight deadly booby-traps in a single day.

The soldier's mother-in-law Wendy Mills has told how the entire family had been left heartbroken.

WO2 O'Donnell was able to meet his newborn son for the first time at home in Leamington Spa while on leave only a few weeks ago.

The proud father, who was due home again next month, leaves behind three other children – Aiden, eight, and two teenagers from a previous marriage, Dylan, 16, and Kayleigh, 14.

In a message on the soldier's Facebook site, Mrs Mills wrote: "I told you to stop being a bloody hero, that we needed you but did you listen to your mum-in-law, I think not.

"Miss you always and have no fear Toni, Aiden and baby Ben will be well loved and cared for."

At their home in Trinity last night, WO2 O'Donnell's parents Joseph and Annette were too upset to speak about their loss. But in a statement released through the MoD, his widow said: "Gary was living the dream and we are all very proud of who he was, and he will be missed greatly."

WO2 O'Donnell died while leading a small team sent in to neutralise an improvised explosive device found by a Royal Engineers search team clearing a route for 5 Scots Battlegroup.

Brought up in Morningside, he attended St Peter's Primary before St Thomas of Aquin's and his thirst for army life began when he joined the cadets.

He joined the Army in 1992 and had completed nearly 17 years of military service.

Friends say he enjoyed the excitement and the challenge of the army and appeared to be pre-disposed to the technical role of bomb dosposal.

"As a youngster, he had a really good eye for fixing things. If his parents gave him something to fix, he would do it," an MoD spokeswoman said. Beyond his family and work, his passions were said to be music and singing.

He passed his Royal Logistic Corps improvised explosive device disposal course as a high-threat operator first time – something only 15-20 per cent of candidates manage. His skills were put to use during tours in Sierra Leone, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan as both an explosives disposal technician and a weapons intelligence specialist.

In June, WO2 O'Donnell recounted a dramatic operation in Afghanistan when he had to jam his fingers into a wooden clothes peg being used as a bomb trigger to stop the device detonating.

In an interview the following month, he spoke of the need to "keep a clear head and trust your own judgement" when disarming primed explosive devices.

He said: "It never crosses my mind that I might be killed. I love my job, I wouldn't do anything else and the training we get is superb."

The close-knit Army bomb clearance community was said to be "extremely hurt and deeply affected" by his death.

One colleague, Private Jay Jones, 23, told the Evening News: "He was like a brother and a father figure. He always had our safety in his best interests and it was a honour to work for him. I am just proud to call myself a friend of his.

"My deepest sympathy to the family."

His commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Dave Wilson, Commander Joint Force Engineer Group, said: "WO2 O'Donnell was an amazing man. Hugely talented and unbelievably brave, he was at the very top of his extremely dangerous and difficult trade.

"It was a trade at which he excelled. It was his passion and he took immense pride in making places safer for other people, the danger to his own life rarely seemed to affect him.

"If it did, he kept it to himself. He was a real character and a natural leader of men, his big smile often giving reassurance to the less experienced or more anxious.

"Men of this calibre are extremely rare. Extremely professional and highly courageous, he was quite simply a brilliant individual."

Defence Secretary Des Browne said he was "deeply saddened" to hear of WO2 O'Donnell's death.

"For more than 16 years he worked as an ammunition technical officer, selflessly putting his own life at risk to save the lives of others," he said.

"I have no doubt that in his extraordinary career he was personally responsible for saving thousands of the family, friends and comrades of others from the anguish that is currently being felt by his own."

Cllr Dawe praised Gary O'Donnell for his bravery and selfless devotion to duty. She said: "He is obviously someone who has given his life while saving others. Leaving a family is always very sad, but I hope as the pain eventually eases they feel as proud of him as the city does."

WO2 O'Donnell's death took the number of British service personnel killed in Afghanistan since operations began in October 2001 to 118.

In July, Edinburgh-born Sgt Jon Mathews was killed by a single bullet.

The father-of-two was in Afghanistan providing mentoring for the Afghan Army. Just two weeks before his death, Sgt Mathews reportedly saved the life of a nine-year-old Afghan boy caught in a suicide bombing, helping rush the child to medics following the blast.

Meanwhile, the MOD confirmed that another solider had been killed in Afghanistan.

The soldier from the 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment was killed in a firefight with enemy forces in Helmand province last night.

Disabled bomb with bare hands

GARY O'DONNELL had been awarded the prestigious George Medal for his bravery after using his bare hands to disable bombs during a tour of duty in Iraq in 2006.

The medal was presented to him during a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace in February 2007.

Speaking the month before he received the award, the bomb disposal expert told of how he had used his hands to make bombs safe after sophisticated robotic equipment called the "wheelbarrow" was unable to work in the searing Iraqi heat.

He said: "That is when I had to put the suit on and go down and do it myself. It is what I have trained to do and we are given the equipment to do it."

Speaking of his medal, he said: "I am very proud, obviously. At the time I was not aware that I was doing anything particularly brave. It came completely as a surprise.

"We feel quite safe but we are always a large target. We have to provide a presence on the ground but by providing that we are a target ourselves.

"We just have to assume that everybody is doing their job."