BBC Producer Stuart Hughes to run in the Olympic torch relay

BBC producer Stuart Hughes, who lost part of his leg during the Iraq war, will run part of the Olympic torch relay today wearing a carbon fibre blade prosthesis.

Stuart, who is world affairs producer for BBC News, lost part of his right leg when he, cameraman Kaveh Golestan, correspondent Jim Muir and a local translator arrived at Kifri, a Kurdish town of Iraq, on a filming trip.

Stuart stepped out of their car on to a mine and was caught by the blast, which blew off part of his right leg. Cameraman Kaveh Golestan was killed instantly.

Stuart was taken by ambulance to the American Military Hospital in Sulaymaniya for treatment before being flown back to the UK.

Five days later, his right leg was amputated below the knee and three months after that he was fitted with his first prosthetic leg.

Speaking about today’s torch relay, Stuart said: “When I lost my leg below the knee in Iraq, I couldn’t imagine ever being able to walk again properly, let alone run.

“But once I began my rehabilitation, I realised how much prosthetics have advanced since World War II, when soldiers returning from the battlefield were fitted with crude, heavy artificial limbs.”

He will carry the flame through the London Borough of Hillingdon from 1.49pm today..