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Anthony-Cooper

A veteran interview with

Anthony Cooper

Anthony Cooper suffered life threatening injuries when he was blown up by an IED in Afghanistan.

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About Anthony Cooper

A keen runner and fitness fanatic, Anthony Cooper signed up at 16 and completed his training at AFC Harrogate and Catterick before being posted to Germany with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment – an experience he recalls with great glee.

Anthony goes on to talk about the six-month operational tour of Iraq that followed, and shares the harsh realities of his first real soldiering experience compared to the practice of training. After a brief decompression in Cyprus, Anthony returned to Catterick where training for combat in Afghanistan began. He recalls the relentlessness of the conflict on arriving in Nad Ali, and talks about living with the fear of a constant threat to life which became all too real in 2010 when a 45kg IED exploded beneath his feet on a routine patrol in Helmand Province.

Anthony talks candidly about his injuries, the long road to recovery and the hard work needed to adapt to life as an amputee with severe brain trauma and visual impairment. The extraordinary courage and resilience of his service now manifest themselves in his determination to overcome any new obstacle in his path, and to achieve his dream of running again one day on blades.

Credits

Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker
Reviewed by:
Caroline Barratt
Transcribed by:
Gillian Cousins

Copyright:
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Home | Veterans | Anthony Cooper

A veteran interview with

Anthony Cooper

Anthony-Cooper

Anthony Cooper suffered life threatening injuries when he was blown up by an IED in Afghanistan.

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Cite this interview:

MLA Style:
Cooper, Anthony. A Veteran Interview with Anthony Cooper. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, 16 Nov. 2015 https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/anthony-cooper/. Accessed 17 May. 2025.
APA Style:
Cooper, A. (2015, November 16). A Veteran Interview with Anthony Cooper [Interview by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee. Retrieved May 17, 2025, from https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/anthony-cooper/
Chicago Style:
Cooper, Anthony. 2015. A Veteran Interview with Anthony Cooper. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, November 16. Accessed May 17, 2025. https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/anthony-cooper/
Harvard Style:
Cooper, A. (2015). A Veteran Interview with Anthony Cooper. [Interviewed by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee, 16 November. Available at https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/anthony-cooper/ (Accessed: 17 May 2025)
Vancouver Style:
Cooper, A. A Veteran Interview with Anthony Cooper [Internet]. Interview by M. Bisiker. Legasee; 2015 Nov 16 [cited 2025 May 17]. Available from: https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/anthony-cooper/
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