Triple amputee who lost both legs and an arm in Afghanistan 'to re-mortgage house' for new limbs despite Government promise to pay for them

• Lance Corporal Mark Ormrod was blown up by IED in Helmand in 2007
• He lost both legs above the knee and his right arm above the elbow
• Needs £115,000 for top-of-the-range prosthetics not available on NHS
• New £6.5million scheme to equip amputees with state-of-the-art 'bionic' legs
• Former Royal Marine says programme could flop without better training

A marine who lost both legs and an arm in Afghanistan says he will have to re-mortgage his house to pay for a new set of limbs - despite a Government promise to pay for them.
Lance Corporal Mark Ormrod needs £115,000 to buy the top-of-the-range prosthetics which are not available on the NHS.
The Government has announced a new £6.5million scheme to buy state-of-the-art 'bionic' legs for soldiers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan - but Cpl Ormrod has dismissed this as a 'publicity stunt'.

Former Royal Marine Mark Ormrod, pictured left serving in Afghanistan where he lost both legs and his right arm above the elbow, says a Government scheme to provide 'state-of-the-art' prosthetics to soldiers wounded in action could flop if medical staff don't received better training on how to fit them

Cpl Ormrod the UK's first triple amputee, warned that the programme could flop unless better training to fit the limbs was provided for medical staff and NHS prosthetists.
He said: ‘I think I was a little bit more let down than angry. I really thought this may have been the turning point. I feel deflated.
'It's going to cost me £115,000. I will have to re-mortgage my house, or start a fundraising campaign.
'I rely on my limbs every day of my life. As an individual my circumstances need me to have a better level of care. There's just no funding for it.'

The former Royal Marine was blown up by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Helmand on Christmas Eve 2007. He lost both legs above the knee and his right arm above the elbow.
The 29-year-old father-of-two said: 'The legs they want to provide are state of the art, no argument.
'But the truth is medical staff in the UK don't know how to use them or set them up properly.
'These are incredibly complicated bits of kit and it takes years of experience and the latest software to get the very best out of them.

Royal Marine Mark Ormrod is Britain's first ever triple amputee after he was hit by an IED in Afghanistan in 2007

Recovering: Former Marine Mark Ormrod, pictured left with his wife Becky Hayes and right at their home in Plymstock, Devon, with their baby boy Mason

'It is not the fault of the NHS. They just have not got the experience of working with bilateral amputees in such large numbers and acting on their feedback.

'The Government has said it will not use this money to send its amputees to see the people in the America who have the skills to transform our lives and our mobility.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said troops who have had their legs blown off by roadside bombs will receive the most technologically-advanced prosthetic limbs

'Instead, you'll have the new legs, which are brilliant, fitted in the UK on the NHS. Fair enough you might say.
'But what is the point of having the most brilliant prosthetic leg in the world, if it keeps falling off because of a bad socket fit?'
But Paralympic rower Captain Nick Beighton, who competed at the London Olympics after losing both his legs in a blast while on a foot patrol in Afghanistan in 2009, praised the programme.
The 31-year-old Royal Engineer, now with the Royal School of Military Engineering, said: 'To have the opportunity to try it and to use it and get the latest technology is fabulous for us because it just gives us that freedom to get out and do more things and have greater functionality and more independence, essentially.'
Speaking at the military rehabilitation centre at Headley Court in Surrey, the officer who had his right leg blown off through the knee and his left leg above the knee, said: 'As you build your strength up and build you independence up, you obviously want to functionally be at a higher level, and that's what this leg offers.'
The 'bionic' leg - made famous by the British Paralympic discus thrower Derek Derenalagi last summer - will be fitted to servicemen and women where clinical conditions indicate is appropriate.
Surgeon General Air Marshal Paul Evans said: 'This is a fantastic prosthetic development and has been seen to have proven benefits for certain amputees. It will improve the quality of life and rehabilitation for our patients.'