Dean Nicholls Royal Welsh Fusiliers
Dean Nicholls served for eight years with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, now Royal Regiment of Wales, but was medically discharged in 1983 after suffering from a brain haemorrhage.
After five years he was able to return to work and became a postman in Pontypool. In 2001 the problem returned and he was forced to retire. His wife died of cancer in 2004 leaving him to raise his two children now 14 and seven, then aged eight and one, alone.
In 2009 Dean suffered a blood clot in his leg which resulted in an above knee amputation. He has had problems using the prosthetic limb and his 14 year old son Adam now has to act as his father’s carer.
Adam has ambitions to follow in his father and his grandfathers footsteps and recently became a Cadet with the Royal Regiment of Wales.
Last summer the family was allocated a new house, more suited to his disability. They have struggled to overcome a number of problems but this was a ray of sunshine for them. The Soldiers’ Charity’s grant helped to provide essential furnishings for the new house.
Happy in his new home, Dean says “If I didn’t have people like The Soldiers’ Charity around, me and the children would have had to move into an empty, unfurnished house. This grant was a real help so I’m very grateful.”
