BBC Journalist Who Lost Leg in Iraq Carries Olympic Torch

The Olympic torch arrived in London this week, ahead of the opening ceremony on Friday.

One man who carried the torch part of the way was BBC producer Stuart Hughes.

Hughes lost the lower part of his right leg in 2003 while covering the war in Iraq.

He stepped on a landmine.

Colleague Kaveh Golestan was killed.

He took part in the relay in West London using an Oscar Pistorius-style blade.

Hughes shares his story with host Aaron Schachter.

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Aaron Schachter: BBC producer Stewart Hughes was one of the people selected to carry the Olympic torch on its 8,000 mile journey around the U.K. The torch will light the cauldron at the Olympic Stadium Friday evening. Hughes jogged his part of the torch relay in London yesterday wearing a carbon fiber blade prosthesis on his right leg. He lost the lower part of that leg nine years ago while covering the war in Iraq. He stepped on an anti-personnel landmine. Steward Hughes joins us from the BBC in London. Stewart, I saw a video of you doing your run and you looked positively ecstatic.

Steward Hughes: I was. I mean even a cynical journalist like me, you know what journalists are like, Aaron. We’re not the most excitable bunch if you like but even I couldn’t help but be swept away by the emotion and the excitement of the day. The most amazing thing of all was so many people came out to enjoy it. As you may have heard, London this year has been in a state of continual rain for about three months but the Olympian Gods were obviously smiling on us yesterday because the sun came out and the public came out as well. All along the route there were people cheering and smiling and clapping. It was all over far too quickly but while it lasted it was such a memorable experience, without a doubt the most exciting day of my life.

Schachter: Well, you looked great and the prosthetic blade that you use was especially patriotic.

Hughes: Yeah, I’ve been working with a British prosthetic company for about six months to develop a carbon fiber blade that I could wear on the torch relay and as you say it was a very patriotic design. It was sprayed in the red, white, and blue of the British flag by a company who does…

Schachter: The Union Jack.

Hughes: Exactly, the Union Jack. The paintwork was done by the same company that does the paint jobs for Formula One cars so it really did look the part. I’m no Formula One driver so the driver of the leg was a little bit slower than the design but it looked fantastic and a real tribute to the efforts of the prosthetic team. We’ve been working, as I said, for this past six months to develop this leg to try and push the science on a little bit further and create something new that hopefully although my leg was just a prototype, in the months ahead it will be something that other amputees can benefit from when it goes on the market.

Schachter: It is as you say a prototype but it’s something that’s been made popular to some extent by the case with Oscar Pistorius, the South African Olympic runner. What is it like to wear something like this?

Hughes: The first time I tried it on it was the most remarkable feeling because putting on a prosthetic blade, it’s literally like standing on a great big spring so as soon as you put your foot forward and put your weight through it and the energy goes through the leg you immediately feel it leaping forward and actually sometimes you have to sort of run to catch up with your leg which seems like a strange concept but it’s like the leg wants to go faster than you do. It’s a hugely liberating thing and actually the Para-Olympics is going from strength to strength in part. It’s one of the probably few positive upsides of conflict that young soldiers are returning from conflict and they’re not prepared to sit in a wheelchair and watch their lives go by. They want to be active. They want to run marathons. They want to be able to climb mountains and cycle and that’s pushing the prosthetic industry forward and forcing designers to come up with new designs and new technology to help people like that and I’m one of the beneficiaries of that technology.

Schachter: Yeah, it’s been quite a journey for you since 2003 when you lost a leg in Iraq. Can you tell us a bit about what that was like?

Hughes: It was obviously a hugely traumatic experience. I was working in northern Iraq in April 2003 when I stepped on a landmine and the cameraman I was working with, [?? 00:03:37], was killed. He stepped on one landmine and fell onto a second. Obviously you go through many stages of recovery. I would say the first 18 months or so I was just glad to be alive and focused on learning to walk again and getting back to work and did go back to work and carried on doing the job that I did before – going to war zones, going to other countries and working for the BBC. Some years later I think the sort of psychological side kicked in and I began to realize just what a traumatic experience I went through. I would say that psychological fallout is certainly much more damaging and much more disabling than the physical side because you don’t know when you’re going to get better. You don’t know know how long it’s going to take and it’s a very scary experience. But thankfully, you know, with the support of family and friends I got through that as well.

Schachter: Stewart Hughes as a self-professed cynical journalist. What if anything are you looking forward to in the Olympics?

Hughes: As a cynical journalist and actually I will be cynical as somebody who lives in London. As much as I’m enjoying watching it on the television I’m looking forward to it being over because for anybody who lives in London trying to get around town in the last ten days or so has been an absolute nightmare. London is in danger of grinding to a halt. So I’m taking the cowardly way out on Friday just as the opening ceremony takes place…

Schachter: You’re going away?

Hughes: I’ll be flying to Canada to stay with my brother so I’ll be watching it on TV and enjoying that way and hopefully by the time I get back the traffic will have died down and London will get back to normal – we’ll get our city back. It’s going to be a great couple of weeks for the many millions of people who come to share in this great city and I hope they all enjoy London. In 22 hours it’s going to be a great time for them I’m sure.

Schachter: Enjoy London. I’m leaving.

Hughes: Yes, enjoy it. I’ll be back in a fortnight.

Schachter: We have video of Stewart Hughes running his part of the torch relay. That’s at theworld.org. Stewart, thank you so much for joining us.

Hughes: It’s a real pleasure. Thank you for having me.

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Drawing by Stuart's five-year-old son Billy (Photo: Stuart Hughes)