Congratulations to Shaun Stocker BEM
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Posts
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Congratulations to Shaun for beiung awarded the BEM in the New Years Honours list- this young man is an insperation to others to see how he has coped with major war related injures and gone on to help others-
Wrexham should be very proud of havingn someone who can inspire othersOkay, I am going to sound bad but….
I have seen all the wonderful work Shaun does and despite his injuries he is actually very physically abled. I know he has false legs and I have seen him parking in disabled with badge. Am I right in assuming he must be getting Pip? Because if so… how????
The rules state not being able to walk 20 metres and yet this guy climbs mountains, treks though deserts.I have seen many people I work with being refused pip despite not being able to do a quarter of what this young lad does.
Janey.
Bloody hell Janey – the man is a hero! He got blown up in a war zone, lost both his legs, his testicles and his sight. The fact that he’s even alive is nothing short of a miracle & the fact that he’s dealt with such horrible setbacks to become a father and achieve all these other things will be an inspiration to others in a similar situation.
So begrudging him a parking space & pip is in completely bad taste. Sometimes people need to stop having a pop at others and just give it a rest.
Well done Shaun completely well deserved!
Well done to Janey for speaking her mind on this, even if it sounds bad. I have no idea who this person is – but if he’s all the things Derek & Matt say he is then I too think he deserves some recognition. But I think he and others who have really demonstrated exceptional courage and/or behaviour deserve to be rewarded by an honours system that isn’t a farce.
e.g. I’m happy to accept that Alastair Cook has done wonderful things for cricket – but is it really justification for awarding him a KNIGHTHOOD?
John Redwood was just awarded a knighthood for political and public services – i.e. his job, that he got paid for.
I liked Ken Loach’s take on the honours system: “It’s not a club you want to join when you look at the villains who’ve got it.”
Philip Green springs to my mind. And Nick Clegg.
The response to Janeywxm’s post was always going to provoke an adverse reaction, setting aside that this young man has obviously done heroic things, but her point about pip and a disabled badge is valid, the criteria should be the same whoever it is.
Everyone is treated the same – mobility is only 2 scoring elements out of 12 of the PIP assessment criteria:
For each descriptor to apply you must show that you are unable to carry out the activity “reliably, repeatedly, safely and in a timely manner”.
Of the twelve activities, ten relate to the daily living component (such as “preparing food and drink” and “reading and understanding signs, symbols and words”) while two relate to the mobility component (“moving around”, for example)
The fact of the matter is that this is completely ridiculous anyway as Janey merely assumed that he was on PIP – no-one has any idea if he does or he doesn’t claim. He works as a charity fund raiser and a motivational speaker so I’m pretty certain he gets some kind of living cost remuneration through that.
I did say ” I have seen him parking in a disabled space with badge , am I right in assuming he claims pip?”
I work with people who cannot walk or cope very well with life who are turned down for pip regularly for it but win it on appeal.
My only point was that if he is able to do these things then surely he does not qualify. Because he is a ” war hero” that makes it alright?
Seeing as I on a roll, I don’t subscribe to calling soldiers heroes either. I am fed up of us glorifying war and violence.
Janey
No, the point is the man is blind that’s why he has a blue badge. But all disabled badge holders don’t automatically get given PIP – so there is a ridiculous assumption there.
FYI I’m a massive f*ck you government & wars pacifist – hate them – yes, he opted to enlist in the forces as a career and it has its risks and some level of UK military is required. As we saw in the Ireland troubles. Regardless of whether or not we had Tony Blair warmongers sending people places into illegal wars. Forces personnel were killed during the Troubles but they were not treated with contempt like those sent to Iraq. A soldier is not responsible for the glorification of death & war. They do what they are told. It’s the people up top to blame – very much how the CEOs of these large tax avoiding corporations are to blame – you wouldn’t go in and abuse someone for choosing to work in Starbucks.
Plus this mans actual heroism is not tied in with how many kills he got in Iraq – it’s to do with overcoming the odds and not giving in after he was dealt such bad luck and then in turn was able to help others. There was an article from earlier in the year where he wanted to donate £15,000 worth of his prosthetics to British non-veteran amputees – but he was unable to do so because of British rules and regulations so in the end he donated them to a South African charity instead.
If you are angry about the unfairness of PIP and wars point your anger in the right direction the government – rather than 1 person from the local area who has done well for once. Let’s not act like “well look he’s not terminally depressed and unable to move like he should be after he got blown up let’s strip him of his benefits!”
There are not many people making enough positive changes in the real world so why should we be sat here (myself included) keyboard warrioring – we’ve done nothing in comparison.
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