The public support was great, loads of people stopping and chatting, curious to know what MAG was about and what we were doing to raise money. I spoke at length to a lady whose son had been badly injured by a landmine in Afghanistan.
She told me, with tears in her eyes, that the anti-tank mine had ripped through the cab of the truck he was driving and virtually killed him. Leaving him with severe internal injuries. It was the courageous efforts of the Chinook pilot and it's escort of Apache Gunships lifting him out of the conflict zone under heavy fire that saved his life.
Chatting with the lady made what we are doing very real. This isn't something that helps out a faceless bunch of people on the otherside of the world, Landmines affect our peers, our friends and our families working in conflict zones. In that instance it was an active soldier - for every mine that doesn't go off during this conflict, another 5 will when a peacekeeping organisation drive over it, or a local family after the conflict.
So, to the lady who turned her nose up and said "I'm not putting any money in, charity starts at home" - have a chat with Sharon and her son - see if landmines are something that York family think is 'close to home'....
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