04/08/2026
Honestly we can’t get away from this guy 😂.
🌺 “A Taliban Bullet Tore Through His Head And Destroyed His Right Eye... Yet Before He Collapsed, He Drew The Enemy Positions In The Sand So His Comrades Could Defeat Them. The Story of Guardsman Alex Harrison, Grenadier Guards.” 🌺
Alexander “Alex” Harrison was born in Lincolnshire in June 1987. The Army Cadet Force gave him structure, while his childhood ambition to become a soldier offered him a different path.
At fifteen and a half, Alex walked into an Army recruiting office and asked to join the Grenadier Guards. By sixteen, he had been accepted for training at Harrogate.
After completing his training, he joined the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards. He served in Iraq in 2006 before deploying to Afghanistan in April 2007, attached to the 1st Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment on Operation HERRICK 6.
He was only nineteen.
In early May 2007, most probably on 4 May, Alex was taking part in an early-morning operation in the Kajaki district of Helmand Province. His patrol was searching compounds and suspected Taliban tunnel positions when an insurgent opened fire from extremely close range.
A round tore through the right side of Alex’s head and eye socket, destroying his right eye and causing a brain injury.
Yet Alex remained conscious.
His speech had been badly affected, but he had seen the layout of the compound and knew where the enemy were positioned. Unable to explain it clearly, he drew a plan in the sand showing his comrades how the positions and rooms were connected.
Only after passing on that vital information did he collapse.
His calmness while catastrophically wounded helped those around him understand the enemy position and continue the fight. For his conduct, Guardsman Alexander Edward Barry Harrison was Mentioned in Despatches, published in the London Gazette on 7 March 2008.
Alex was evacuated to Britain and spent days unconscious or in intensive care. Doctors initially attempted to save his eye, but around two months later it had to be removed. He was left permanently blind on his right side.
Following rehabilitation at Headley Court, Alex returned to Army duties in a stores role. For a young man who had dreamed of a full infantry career, losing his front-line future was devastating. He was medically discharged in 2009.
The battle that followed lasted far longer than the action at Kajaki.
Alex struggled with severe PTSD, depression, anxiety, insomnia, anger and alcohol. Civilian life felt alien, and the identity he had built around the Army had been taken from him. In 2013, after reaching a serious low point, he sought help.
Slowly, he began rebuilding.
Golf helped him retrain his depth perception and led to work in greenkeeping. He later established gardening and landscaping businesses, supported other veterans, joined Blesma activities and discovered that comedy could help him speak honestly about injury, trauma and recovery.
In 2024, Alex became a director of the Veterans’ Comedy Club, bringing together humour, veteran fellowship and mental-health advocacy. He has continued using his experiences to help others.
Alex Harrison’s heroism was not shown only in the moments after he was shot, when he remained calm enough to map the enemy positions for his comrades.
It has also been shown throughout the years since—in surviving, asking for help, rebuilding his life and standing beside others facing battles of their own.
🌺 Guardsman Alexander “Alex” Harrison, Grenadier Guards.
Shot through the head at nineteen. Mentioned in Despatches for remaining calm under fire. Still serving others long after his uniform was put away. 🌺
📸 Alex Harrison during different stages of his Army service and in later life following his injuries.
