Exclusive By Jenny Barwise

Last updated at 17:22, Friday, 01 February 2013

A soldier lucky to be alive after being shot in the head by a Taliban rebel in Afghanistan will tomorrow marry the woman who helped nurse him back to health.

Ashley Irving and Amy Thurlow

Corporal Ashley Irving and Amy Thurlow will tie the knot surrounded by their family and friends.

But their celebrations will be short-lived because the groom will be straight back at work the following day, training new soldiers at Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire.

The couple, who met on a night out in Cpl Irving’s hometown of Cockermouth five years ago, have been through more together than most.

After Cpl Irving, who now lives at Aspatria, was shot during a fierce battle in the war-torn country three years ago, Miss Thurlow, along with his parents and sister, were at his bedside in the Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham for nine days. He had suffered a fractured skull and had lost five per cent of his peripheral vision to his right eye.

Miss Thurlow, 23, helped the 24-year-old make a full recovery in the following seven months before he returned to the Duke of Lancaster’s 2nd battalion.

Cpl Irving has been back to Afghanistan twice since being shot and hasn’t ruled out any further tours of duty there, but Miss Thurlow, a support worker in Workington, no longer worries about him while he’s away.

“I was in the Army when I met Amy, so she’s used to me being away,” added Cpl Irving. The couple will get married at St Cuthbert’s Church in Plumbland, where Miss Thurlow is originally from. The reception will be held at The Castle Inn Hotel, Bassenthwaite.

First published at 17:18, Friday, 01 February 2013
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk