Episode 3 Going Back Giving Back

How often have you watched the news and seen disasters...

-REPORTER:

-The sea rose up 20 feet, flooding the area.

..and tragedies?

The bomb exploded at about ten past three this afternoon.

But what if you were caught up in the events?

GUNSHOTS AND EXPLOSIONS

I've been out there and checked so many bodies, she's not there.

And now, inspired by your past,

you're on a mission to help someone today.

The support that we had after the fire was so tremendous,

you just want to do something for the people that helped us.

Hopefully, I'll be able to help him to achieve some of his goals.

Someone who has no idea that this life-changing gift is coming.

Oh, my days. Why is there so many people outside?

Hi, Paul.

CHEERING

We're here today to surprise somebody very special.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

This is Going Back Giving Back.

The Royal Air Force has defended Britain for almost a century...

..their pilots protecting the lives of ordinary people.

-NEWSREEL:

-Every day was D-Day for the air force.

From dawn to dawn, the sound of aeroplane engines filled the air.

Flying against the odds, navigating through deadly war zones,

is a heroic pilot...

I can't believe they're letting a boy from Woolwich

loose in this aircraft!

..who's overcome disability...

My toes died and they had to amputate them.

..to fight for his country...

You can't be in that environment, fast jets,

and not have situations where, but for the grace of God,

you wouldn't be here any more.

Now this remarkable man wants to help someone else

overcome a terrible injury, whose career and role as a dad

has been changed forever.

Not being able to do the stuff like, you know, carrying them on your shoulders, my little 'un.

Won't be able to play football with them.

-I might not be able to do that now ever.

-Yeah.

Two courageous military men, unified by love of flying,

and one is about to receive a life-changing gift.

Hi, Paul.

From the humblest of beginnings, growing up on a council estate

in south-east London, Trevor Edwards,

like many young boys, had a passion for aeroplanes.

Never in a million years did he think that, one day,

he'd be flying fighter jets for his country.

Well, today, we're revisiting Trevor's incredible story

to find out why he's keen to give back.

Trevor. How are you?

-Nice to see you.

-Good to see you.

'Today, 53-year-old Trevor Edwards is a highly regarded

'commercial pilot for one of the UK's top airlines.'

He lives with his wife Katie and their two children,

Freya and Otis, in Guildford.

His life now is a million miles from where it began,

in one of the most deprived and crime-ridden areas of Britain.

So what's driving you to want to give something back

to somebody today?

Coming from a council estate in London,

with a passion for aviation and eventually ended up flying fast jets

in the Royal Air Force, and certainly,

when I was growing up,

the idea that someone like myself could achieve

something like that was, I thought, particularly impossible.

What was stopping you?

It's what people expect from you as a council estate boy.

I wouldn't have thought that...

..being a pilot was something that I could achieve.

You know, you see the movies, Battle Of Britain,

and all the films, that fighter pilots are, you know,

tall, Caucasian, public school educated,...

-Loads of money.

-Loads of money!

Super sportsmen, hyper-intelligent.

And that's not me.

I mean, I wouldn't consider myself any of those.

Since he was a young child, Trevor has been obsessed

with planes and flying.

Where did that passion come from?

Watching aeroplanes.

-Farnborough Airshow.

-Yeah.

Lots of military aircraft racing around there.

-REPORTER:

-An air defence variant Tornado MK 2 heralds the start

of an impressive military display at Farnborough.

And I just thought, "That is amazing."

And, as lots of young men do,

there's posters, there's Airfix models,

all of that stuff. I couldn't get enough of it.

I thought it was amazing.

But it was never something I thought I would be able to do.

-But you did do it.

-Yes, I did, yeah, eventually.

What Trevor has achieved is remarkable.

He's become one of the RAF's talented elite,

flying this supersonic aircraft at 600mph,

just 100 feet off the ground, through the hostile environments

of Iraq and Bosnia.

He is the best of the best.

And yet, he managed this despite sustaining a disabling injury

right at the start of his military career.

It wasn't... It wasn't straightforward!

Not easy. There's a few knockbacks on the way.

So what sort of person would you like to give back to?

Anyone that's struggling, really.

Anyone that's struggling to get to their goals because they think that

it's unachievable because of, you know, a disability,

or their circumstances.

Well, listen, in order for you to give back,

I think we need to go back first,

which involves you trusting me in the car.

-OK.

-You're going to be such a control freak, aren't you?

Always wanting the hands on the controls.

I'm going to struggle!

-Well, it'll be fun. Come on, let's go.

-OK.

'I'm keeping our first destination to myself for now,

'keen to find out about Trevor's early life.'

The second of five children,

Trevor's mum Barbara was a nurse and his dad Edwin was a teacher.

The family lived in a small flat

on the notorious Thamesmead council estate.

What was it like growing up there?

The thing is you don't know any different, do you, as a kid.

So it was just home and that's where it was.

-Was it rough?

-It was rough, yeah, it was rough.

I didn't necessarily notice a lot of crime, but, you know,

there was some fairly rough lads around.

-East End of London housing estate.

-Yeah.

Not necessarily the most pleasant of areas.

The Thamesmead estate in the '70s was a difficult place to live.

Just outside Woolwich in south-east London,

it was known as a "sink estate,"

used by councils all around the capital to re-home

"problem families."

The backdrop to Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film A Clockwork Orange,

crime and anti-social behaviour thrived.

I was quite a fast runner, actually, so...

..that was useful.

Yeah, you get used to knowing where to avoid at what times.

-Head down.

-Head down, that's it. Go for it.

Despite his surroundings, Trevor did well at school

and won a place at university.

Here, he came across the RAF for the first time.

Can you see yourself in the RAF?

We'll give you the finest trade training you'll find.

Call in to your nearest RAF careers information office,

or send off the coupon in today's paper.

It's your life,

so you think about it.

He applied to become a pilot,

but just failed a crucial hand-eye coordination test.

Despite passing all the other exams with flying colours,

he was deemed a training risk.

-I was very disappointed.

-I bet.

-It was so close.

-Yeah.

-Didn't quite get there!

"Oh...OK, that's a real shame."

But it wasn't the end of the road for Trevor and the RAF.

He was offered a position as a ground officer,

protecting the airfields.

Training was tough, cos you do the officer training first.

I mean, that's everybody - guys, girls, pilots.

And, in fact, that's where I realised that...you know,

that perhaps I should have stuck with the pilot route

a little bit longer,

because it was the first time I realised

that they were no different to me.

You must have been thrilled.

Yeah!

Keen aviation guys, but just like me.

You know, they weren't amazing athletes,

they weren't hyper-intelligent.

You just think, "Actually, you know what? I could do that.

-"I think I could do that job."

-Yeah.

Trevor hatched a plan to see if he could retrain,

but then tragedy struck and his dream was shattered.

So any idea where we're heading off on this journey today?

Definitely Headley Court.

-You reckon, do you?

-Yeah.

And if we were heading to Headley Court,

when's the last time you went there?

I haven't been back since I left,

so that was 1986...

..'87?

-Gosh, a long time ago.

-A long time, yeah.

Set in 85 acres on the Epsom Downs,

Headley Court is home to rehabilitating military personnel.

The centre has helped pilots, sailors and soldiers recover from

or learn to cope with the most devastating injuries and illness.

Trevor was 22 when he arrived here,

just 18 months into his military career,

with an injury so severe,

he was wondering if he would ever walk again.

So how did you end up here?

My last training exercise on my regiment course

was up in North Yorkshire

and it was a week-long, quite a brutal course,

brutal exercise that particular one,

working 20-hour days,

in the wintertime as well, cold, wet.

And my feet, basically, they were wet,

they were cold and I never got warmed up.

The training was punishing, the officers were practising

defending a position.

Trevor was spending days on end manning an outpost,

standing in a dugout without moving in the December snow.

Came off the exercise, had a lot of problems with my feet.

Off to hospital and they called it a non-freezing cold injury,

-which, to you and me, is trench foot.

-Right.

A non-freezing cold injury gained its common name

of trench foot during the First World War.

The medical condition is caused by long exposure

to damp and cold conditions

and results in tissue and nerve damage to the feet.

It was immensely painful, looked like shrivelled prunes.

And you just thought, "Yeah, that is not right."

My toes died and started getting gangrenous,

and they had to amputate them.

-Gosh.

-And...

..this is the military rehabilitation centre.

And once I'd recovered sufficiently, they sent me down here

to, basically, to learn to walk again.

Before here, of course, the seed had been sown that you could maybe...

-Maybe.

-..maybe be a pilot.

-Yeah.

-So was that dream still alive when you were here?

-No.

No, when I arrived here, definitely not.

That's the end of me, any sort of military career,

any sort of flying career, that's it gone.

Cos I never thought I would get to the stage where you wouldn't be

able to tell that I have an injury.

'Surrounded by people with worse injuries than him,

'Trevor was spurred on to undergo months of gruelling physio

'to get him back on his feet.'

I couldn't imagine getting to the stage where

I'd be running round with the soldiers,

doing their fitness tests.

How tough was it getting to that stage?

Cos you came in here on crutches.

Yeah, came here on crutches, but...this place is one of those...

There is always people worse than you are,

and if they are getting on with it, without complaint,

then the least I can do,

with my minor injuries, in comparison,

was to get on with it.

Despite his incredible recovery,

with no toes and facing military discharge,

Trevor's dream of becoming a pilot was over.

But one man and one conversation was to change all that.

Wing Commander, a Tornado Wing Commander...

I can't remember his name

cos he was only there for a little while

while I was there.

And just chatting to him, talking about various injuries and stuff.

And... I said, "I always wanted to be a pilot."

He says, "Well, you can still become a pilot.

"A guy called Douglas Bader had no legs,

"who flew fighters in the Second World War time."

"Wow! OK."

-I'd have loved to have seen your face when they said that.

-Yeah!

So that was like a big light bulb going on.

"Really? OK. Right... OK."

Douglas Bader is a hero of the air force.

In 1930, the 21-year-old RAF officer crashed his aeroplane.

He lost both his legs, but still fought in World War II,

becoming famous for trying to escape from a prisoner of war camp

after he was shot down.

This legendary pilot became an inspiration to Trevor.

The fact I hadn't got any legs caused me to get publicity.

Now, that, as you say,

has helped a lot of people, maybe, and I hope so,

who've had similar disabilities.

Bader's story, along with those few words from the Wing Commander,

changed Trevor's life.

-Are you glad to be back?

-Yeah, very pleased to be back.

It'll be nice to go in and have a look.

'I have a huge surprise waiting for Trevor.

'I can't wait to see his face.'

So what's it like for you, being back inside?

Yes, in the officers mess! It is bringing back memories, actually.

Starting to remember a few bits and pieces from being in here,

-30 years ago!

-I know, a long time, isn't it?

-A long time.

'Headley Court was a pivotal moment in Trevor's life,

'but one moment stands out above the rest.'

And incredible to think, you know, your story,

without the Wing Commander who gave you that advice,

-you wouldn't be flying.

-No, absolutely not.

And, you know, a conversation in a room very similar to this.

Might even have been this very room.

You know, my 20-year, 30-year aviation career,

all because of that conversation with that Wing Commander

at that time at Headley Court, yeah.

And all he said was that you can do it.

Absolutely, yeah. He said, "There's no reason why...

"Having no toes is no reason not to be able to fly."

Amazing. Well, I've got a little surprise for you now.

Don't worry, but through this door...

..retired Wing Commander Niall Irving,

who was here in 1987.

-You haven't seen him for a very long time.

-Hi! Hi, Trevor.

-Wow!

-How nice to see you.

-Fantastic.

-I think the last time we met here,

-we were both a lot younger.

-A lot younger, yes.

Yeah, yeah. And you were here, about to be medically discharged...

-Yeah.

-..from the Royal Air Force.

And I had just ejected from a Tornado that was on fire...

-That's right.

-..and had a back problem,

-which I'm delighted to say they resolved.

-Yeah, yeah.

And we find ourselves here again.

-That's it.

-And what a story you have.

-What a story, well...

-Because I haven't, obviously,

been in contact with you since I last saw you 30 years ago.

Do you know what he's just said outside?

That without you, he wouldn't be flying.

No, I would not be in the career that I've had for the last 30 years

without you saying to me, "Oh, that won't be any problem at all."

And you recounted the story of Douglas Bader flying with no legs,

and me with my no toes won't be a problem at all and,

yeah, I thought, "Well, you know what?

"If a Wing Commander flying Tornadoes thinks that I can do it,

"then I'm going to go for it."

-Fabulous.

-Yeah, brilliant.

-Amazing.

And how do you feel about the fact that Trevor is now going to

give something back to somebody else?

I think it is absolutely outstanding.

I think this opportunity, as we get older, and have the opportunity

now and again to reflect on how lucky we've been,

to be able to do something and give back like that, I really admire.

But this is what Trevor is.

This is why Trevor achieved what he did.

I mean, you know, I said a few words,

but it was he who took it on and achieved what he did

and I must say, I'm very proud now that I've learnt his story.

What I love most, it's come full circle, hasn't it?

Yeah, it has, very much.

And I so did not expect to see you today!

That was the last person I expected to see

walking in here today.

No, I'm absolutely delighted to see you and to learn your story

and, yeah, great admiration.

Thank you so much.

-I wish you luck and I hope that you go on...

-Yeah.

..and inspire the next generation.

I really wish that I had an opportunity to chat

to you a little bit more cos there's so many stories...

You're busy and your role now is more important.

We can catch up another time.

-It was a pleasure. Good luck.

-Really good.

Listening to the hurdles Trevor's conquered to become a pilot

is extraordinary, and now he wants to give back.

But who can he help?

Is there someone who's sustained a life-changing injury themselves,

whose future is unknown and whose story will resonate with Trevor?

Within 18 months of leaving his rehabilitation,

Trevor had passed his RAF flight training

and was sent to Scotland to learn to fly the king of the jets,

the Jaguar.

-REPORTER:

-Planes like these Jaguars, travelling at around 700mph

and only a couple of hundred feet off the ground.

I want to see what it is about planes and flight

that's fascinated Trevor his entire life.

This is...

-..Blackbushe Airport.

-Yeah.

We are pulling in.

But we're not meeting anyone here.

-We're not meeting anyone here?

-No.

We're going to go...

..for a fly.

Oh, wow! OK.

-That's brilliant.

-Yeah. We're still on the journey.

We're not just going up in the air for the fun of it.

-OK, yeah.

-It will be fun, but, yeah, we're taking off.

See, now, we could be going to anywhere then.

We could be going anywhere.

-From here, we could fly anywhere.

-Yeah.

Hello, mate. How are you? Nice to see you.

-This is Trevor.

-Morning, Trevor.

-Hi, Stuart.

So, Trevor, are you ready for this?

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

Two five left-hand, one, zero.

And you still have no idea where we're going?

I've got a little bit more of an idea...

It can only be somewhere...

I assume it's somewhere where there's a Jaguar.

Or one of the bases that I was based at.

Oh, you're quite clever, aren't you?

We'll find out. TREVOR LAUGHS

Now a commercial airline pilot,

Trevor is more accustomed to flying out of Heathrow,

behind the controls of an Airbus A320.

Information, ready, taxi.

When was the last time you flew one of these, Trevor?

Something similar, not quite as big, a good ten years ago, actually.

And even then, I wasn't massively experienced on them, either.

Thanks for that, Trevor. That's really good(!)

Sitting really comfortable at the back here now.

'I think I'm in safe hands, but just to make sure,

'we have Stuart at the helm alongside Trevor.'

Well done. Whip up the nose, right on the horizon.

And I'll give you about 105.

Very bumpy in the first 1,000 feet.

-How's that? Well done, Trevor.

-Thanks for that. I enjoyed that.

Good. I wish I could say I did.

-No, it was seamless.

-Seamless.

-You'd almost think I've done it before.

-Yeah, exactly.

What is it about flying that you love so much?

Being up here is just great.

Being in the air, being at the controls of an aeroplane.

I don't know. I don't know how to describe it, really.

How many adjectives you can have to say how wonderful it is.

It's exciting, thrilling.

Flying a plane like this hardly compares to what Trevor did

at the peak of his military career.

-REPORTER:

-First, the Jaguars, pounding the target

with 30 millimetre cannons.

He was part of a squadron of Jaguar pilots sent to Iraq

and Bosnia in Nato operations.

It's the Nato sledgehammer, and with the threat to hit harder

until the Bosnian Serbs give in, because giving in

is what this is all about.

Was there ever a time that you were scared for your life?

Um, yes.

The air support was close behind.

They came out of the sun, just like you'd expect.

In Iraq, the Jaguars would fly in pairs at speeds of 600mph.

The pilots would fly at just 100 feet above the hostile terrain.

Our job was to go at low level, sometimes very low levels,

and drop bombs on targets.

The threat was always there, because for them to shoot down

a Nato aircraft would be a massive coup, capture the pilot.

You can imagine that all over the news.

Trevor was told when he learned to fly the Jaguar

one in 20 of them would die at the controls

before the end of their career.

You can't be in that environment, fast jets,

and not have situations where, but for the grace of God, you know,

you wouldn't be here any more.

It wasn't a regular occurrence, but it happened.

So, yeah...

Yeah, very, very scary.

I'm glad we're not in that situation today.

No, absolutely not.

I wouldn't want to go through that situation again either, actually.

I can see an airfield there.

I can see a runway. I take it that is the correct one?

Yeah, I would make that a positive ID.

Follow me through on the landing, if you wish.

Yeah, if you wouldn't mind actually, that'd be great, thank you.

'We've flown 150 miles and, thanks to our accomplished pilots,

'have made a smooth landing near RAF Cosford.'

Nice landing, by the way, Stu.

Thank you. It was an absolute pleasure to do that for you both.

'The military base near Wolverhampton is now home

'to the Jaguar aircraft, after the RAF retired the fleet

'from active service in 2007.'

-Amazing planes.

-Amazing.

Amazing. F3, that one.

-Incredible, isn't it?

-Yeah.

'Trevor hasn't seen a Jaguar in over a decade.'

This single-seat fighter jet protected him in hostile skies,

in treacherous situations, almost every day for six years.

When he was learning to fly, he met one of his best mates

in fellow pilot John Green.

And you probably recognise this gentleman over here as well,

who's come to say hello.

How are you doing? You all right?

-How are you?

-The last person I expected to see here, actually!

So, go on, tell us a bit about how you guys know each other.

Well, we first met on my first-ever flying course in the air force

-at Swinderby.

-Yeah. 1988.

-There you go. Yeah.

-What was he like?

-He was great.

He was on the junior course, so I could tell him what to do.

-Yes, a lot, actually, as far as I remember.

-Oh, he did, did he?

He'd overcome a lot to get to where he was.

He had. Yeah, yeah. And I don't think we appreciated how much

when we first met him. I think Trevor arrived, junior course,

and just settled in and at no point did Trevor ever really make a fuss

about what had happened previously.

-Just got on with it.

-Got on with it and fitted in.

-Yeah.

-Any good as a pilot?

Not bad.

He can't possibly go around saying things like that!

I bet you're dying to go and have a look, aren't you?

-I would love to...

-Is there any way of finding out if you've flown that

-particular one?

-Well, yes. We all keep logbooks.

And XX 112, I'd have to have a look in my logbook

-to see whether or not I flew it.

-All right. We'll do that afterwards,

-but let's go and have a look at the cockpit, shall we?

-Yeah.

Go on, lead the way.

The Jaguar was built in the '60s,

one of the last truly manual aircrafts.

This supersonic jet was used in the 1991 Gulf War

and in subsequent Iraq and Balkan operations.

Now, I'd love to say this takes me back,

but I'm just looking at that thinking,

"I don't remember it being so complicated as this."

-It's tiny in there.

-It is. Trevor, it doesn't look too comfortable,

I've got to tell you.

Yeah. That is smaller. Maybe I'm larger.

Still amazes me that I ever did this.

-Really?

-Yeah, it's still amazing.

That I was capable of...

Well, I mean, I did, I did this.

And it is...

It looks complicated, even for me.

Honestly, I was about to say, I can't imagine being able to sit

there on my own and fly this. I would be petrified.

Trevor, do you fancy sitting in there for old time's sake?

-Love to, yeah, definitely!

-Go for it.

If I'm still agile enough to get in.

Oh, look that. Straight in.

-Brilliant.

-What was it like when you flew this for the very first time?

Very first time, and I still remember it vividly,

because you climb up here and you turn around -

I could turn around a lot better then -

-and there's nothing behind you.

-Yeah.

It's the first time ever I've been in an aeroplane with no other seat.

You fly by yourself in the other aircraft,

but there's always another seat there. But this is...

There's no seat.

No other seat, it's just you, by yourself.

And...

..sat there thinking, "I can't believe they're letting

"a boy from Woolwich loose in this aircraft,

"and it costs millions of pounds.

"And I'm going to go and fly round Scotland, by myself!

"This is great!"

-Amazing.

-It was. It was fantastic, it was fantastic.

He's like a kid in a toy shop, the grin on his face, honestly.

That is... Yeah, I almost want to get airborne in it again.

Actually, I do want to get airborne in one again.

-That would be brilliant.

-We're trying to find out

whether he flew this plane.

Here's Trevor's logbook and, sure enough,

X-ray, X-ray, 112, on his own, doing operational low flying

-at 100 feet...

-Oh.

-..in Scotland.

-When was that?

That was January 18th 1993.

-Wow! There you go.

-Gosh.

-There you go.

Amazing how long ago that was.

Yeah. Say, 24 years...

And it seems like...

Sounds like something old people say, isn't it?

"Oh, it seems like just yesterday."

-Yeah, scary.

-We've aged.

-Yeah, we've aged.

-And the aircraft's aged as well.

-The aircraft's aged.

What do you think of his idea that he wants to give something back to

-somebody else?

-I think it's a fantastic idea

and couldn't think of anyone better to do it.

A generous guy who has, you know,

been through a lot a while ago and lived, you know,

through such an experience.

It's great to share and give back,

you know, from the experiences that you have in your life.

Absolutely. And what about for you?

Coming back to... What was it?

-19...

-'93.

-..'93, and seeing the plane you used to fly.

-Yeah.

-Has that reinforced in you that desire as well?

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

I mean, if anyone can get...a fraction of the amount

of pleasure and enjoyment, yeah...

I'd love for anyone to feel the same.

It would be brilliant.

-Well, I'm glad we've come back.

-I am.

-Cos, honestly, the smile

on your face is enormous.

I am glad that you've brought me back, actually.

-Good.

-Brought us back as well.

-I'm sure JG's enjoying this as much as I am.

-Yeah, it's been fantastic.

Well, listen, you two have got loads to catch up on.

So I'll see you very soon and, yeah, thanks for the surprise.

-Good to see you. Cheers, guys.

-Thank you.

What a day it's been, learning about Trevor's life,

from his upbringing on the Thamesmead estate

to his rehabilitation at Headley Court,

where he first realised he could make it as a pilot,

and then taking the trip up to RAF Cosford in this beauty.

And seeing his expression as he sat in the cockpit of his old Jaguar jet

was such a thrill, and it reinforced in Trevor that desire to give

something back and we think we've found somebody who fits the bill,

someone whose story will really resonate with him.

Trevor's come to meet Paul Stevens.

He was serving as a rifles infantryman

in the 1st Battalion with the British Army.

It feels OK.

Do you want to flip over onto your front?

But then, one summer's day in July 2014,

a horrible accident happened and Paul was severely injured.

Like Trevor, he was left unable to walk,

so is undergoing medical help to get him on his feet.

When I first came back in 2015...

..I wasn't putting no weight on the leg at all.

And now, I've progressed.

We've come around a bit.

Looking forward to meeting Paul.

I understand that he's had quite a hard time

with his injuries and recovering from his injuries.

If there's anything I can do to help him...

I had a lot of help when I was here at Headley Court,

so it would be nice to be able to give something back

to someone who's also struggling, while they're here.

Paul thinks we're making a programme about leaving the Army after injury.

He has no idea what Trevor's really up to.

Paul, thank you very much for meeting me today.

Serving his country is all Paul ever wanted to do.

Although being in the Army was his childhood dream,

he was a latecomer to the forces after a wrist injury,

but once accepted at the age of 27, he flourished.

Offered a promotion almost immediately,

Paul showed promise as one of the stars of the future.

But this was all snatched away in an instant.

I was on a battalion exercise in the Brecon Beacons...

-Yeah.

-..with my unit, carrying a lot of weight,

probably 90 to 100 kilos.

So more than your body weight.

Yeah, definitely. I was about 79 kilos at the time.

So... Yeah, and the ground just gave way.

-I slipped.

-Yeah.

-Went into thunder splits.

-Ouch.

-The lads behind me, they just picked me up,

-"Come on, just carry on."

-Yeah, as you did in those days.

-"It's just a groin strain."

-Yeah.

-"Just a groin strain."

So I carried on, probably for another four or five miles.

-Yeah.

-And I checked myself over and everything was black.

In extreme pain, Paul was forced to stop and seek medical help.

His pelvis had been completely shattered.

For the last two years, Paul's been in and out of hospital,

undergoing multiple operations.

He's also suffered a severe infection in his wound.

I just don't know where I'm going to be now when I come out.

-Yeah.

-At the minute, I've sort of...

I'm at a point where, "Am I going to get any better?"

-Yeah.

-Or am I going to stay like this now, forever?

-And that's a scary thing, really.

-Yeah.

But it's the impact his injury has had on his personal life,

as well as his professional, that's been so hard to endure,

thinking he's not the dad he hoped to be to his 11-year-old son, Dean,

and three-year-old Freddie.

And how has it affected your lads?

Not being able to do the stuff like, you know,

carrying him on your shoulders, my little 'un.

-Stuff that dads always do.

-Running around. Yeah, absolutely.

I haven't able to play football with them.

-I might not be able to do that now, ever.

-Yeah.

I'm not that sort of person that would be happy just stood back.

In the corner. Yeah.

While Trevor's been meeting Paul, I'm meeting Paul's dad, Roy.

Hey, Roy.

-Good to meet you. How are you?

-Yeah, I'm fine.

Go on, then. Tell me a bit about your son.

What's he like?

He's full of life, basically.

He loves the Army. He always wanted to go in the Army.

And, of course, then he had the accident.

-He's had a really, really hard time, hasn't he?

-He has.

His sole goal is to be where he wanted to be.

How has Headley Court impacted upon his life, would you say,

-cos he's been there for, what, two years?

-Yeah.

I think the main downfall of it all is he's having to come back

week in, week out, week in, and it's not for just a week.

He's got to stay down there for a fortnight,

so he doesn't see the little 'uns.

Paul has always been very family-orientated.

His home is back in Nottingham - 150 miles from Headley Court.

He can only get back twice a month

to see his children and partner, Alex, and misses them dreadfully.

His sister Kelly lives nearby with her children.

She's seen how devastating the accident has been for him.

I think that he was really proud of the fact when he got in that it was

something he could show his boys, you know, that he was there,

that he'd finally got his dream,

and he was doing something for his country,

and it's a good career to have and a good way forward.

So now that he's not fulfilling his dream and he can't go out

and do what he wanted to do, I think he feels that they'll

not be as proud of him more, that they won't be able to go back

and tell their friends all the great things that their dad does.

You must have been really worried for him.

I am. But he's a fighter.

It's this fighting spirit that's keeping him going now.

While desperately missing his Army life and his family,

he's trying to be positive and has been helped by something

quite unexpected that Trevor will appreciate.

-It's been a tough time.

-Yeah.

-It's not been easy.

But I can see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel now.

-Yeah, absolutely.

-And different pathways have opened up for me

-since I've been here.

-Yeah.

One of which is flying, I hear.

Yeah, yeah. So that was just by chance.

Two of the lads that were here, they went off on a gliding session.

-Yeah.

-And anybody that knows me, I was like a spoilt kid, I was like,

"Well, I want to go gliding."

Seeing his interest, staff at the rehab centre organised

a surprise for Paul, to give a flying a go.

I was... I went off for a half-an-hour flying lesson,

got a taster session. That was phenomenal.

-It seemed like about two minutes.

-Yeah.

-It just went so quick.

And just as we were coming in for landing,

he was like, "How would you like to start some flying lessons?"

-I was like, "I'd love to."

-Yeah.

-It's always something I've wanted to do as a kid.

-Yeah.

But never really been able to have the chance to do it,

-especially financially.

-Yeah. It is a little bit pricey, isn't it?

The thing is with flying is that once you've got the bug,

you get the bug and you will find any way to go and get airborne.

Yeah, yeah.

-My kids want to come up as well.

-Brilliant.

Yeah. So are you going to be Super Cool Dad who flies?

-Yeah. Looks that way, yeah.

-Oh, yeah.

I used to be Super Cool Dad that was in the Army and now I'm...

Super Cool Dad that flies as well. Brilliant.

Learning to fly has given Paul hope for the future,

but he doesn't know how he'll be able to continue lessons

after the charity sessions run out.

His family also want them to continue,

seeing such a huge change in Paul since he took to the skies.

It seems there's been a glimmer of hope in all this,

in flying, of all things.

Yeah. I couldn't believe it. Cos he got in touch with me, he said,

"Dad," he said, "They've offered me...

"They've offered to put me in for flying."

But it seems to me that the flying's given him

a new lease of life, really, and that's not too big a statement.

No. No, he has.

He's taken to flying. It's crazy. I didn't believe he would.

Even though he's only had two lessons,

Paul loves flying so much,

he's wondering if there could be any chance he could do it

as a profession, now his Army career has been cut short.

I mean, I'd like to do it as a job. That would be a dream come true.

-But I'm just taking one step at a time.

-Yeah.

Well, I mean, that's the sensible thing, really, isn't it?

As you say, you don't know where it could end up,

and a few years down the line, you could easily find yourself

flying for one of those big airliners.

-There's no reason why not.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Is there?

-Yeah, no.

-Yeah.

Trevor knows exactly what it's like to be in Paul's position.

He wants to encourage Paul, but will he go one step further

and also give him a life-changing gift?

Now, you know the whole idea that we are going to surprise him later.

How do you think he's going to react?

He'll be over the moon because we're all here.

You know where we are going to meet,

so I'll catch up with you there and mum's the word.

-OK?

-OK.

-See you later. Cheers.

Roy will be delighted to see his son happy after years of

knockbacks triggered by injury.

Let's hope Trevor can make it work and we can pull off the surprise.

Thank you very much for meeting me today...

-Yeah.

-..and having this opportunity to have a little chat with you

and what you've been through.

Come back here, see this place.

-Yeah, come back, see it.

-Yeah.

-And you, your determination.

With your determination, I'm sure you will get to...

-To where I want to be.

-..where you want to be.

-Nice meeting you. Cheers.

-Cheers, Paul.

-No worries.

'That was excellent. What a nice man.'

Really good to meet Paul.

The serious injuries that he's been through

definitely resonates with me, but he's got the flying bug

and, hopefully, I'll be able to help him to achieve some of his goals.

I'm really looking forward to seeing Trevor again today.

It's been a week since I last saw him

and he's had a big decision to make.

How can he make a difference to Paul's life?

I've arranged to meet him back at Headley Court.

Paul's at one of his charity flying lessons,

so there's no danger of us running into him and blowing our cover.

How was meeting Paul?

Paul was excellent.

What a nice man. You know, the story that he had reminded me

so much of my time here, with my injury,

definitely resonating with the injury that he has at the moment.

You know, he's there walking with sticks

and I was there walking on sticks when I arrived.

His passion, you see his face light up as soon as you started

talking about flying and getting into the air. Amazing.

-Really, really...

-A real buzz.

-Real buzz.

And, yeah, just so keen.

It was infectious, almost.

Paul is up in the air, so we've gathered a load

of his friends and family at the aerodrome.

It's time to surprise him.

-HE WHISPERS:

-I can hear the plane.

Right, his plane's coming past the hang house.

We'll just be quiet a little bit.

Keep out the way as well.

He's getting out of the plane. He's standing on the plane.

Here we go. Right now.

Hi, Paul.

CHEERING

So you probably know all these people, don't you?

I know some of them.

Your dad's told us everything about you.

Now, you thought we were making a programme about leaving the Army

-after an injury.

-Yeah.

It's not the full story, is it?

No, not at all. After meeting you, resonated with me so much my time

at Headley Court and going on to have a career in aviation,

so I've managed write a few of my thoughts down

-in a letter there for you.

-Will you read it out loud for us?

"Good to meet you. Good to talk to you about your experiences,

"and especially your time at Headley Court.

"That really resonated with me, as it was because of the help

"I received at Headley that I was able to have a career in aviation.

"I can see that you've already caught the flying bug

"and I would like to help you get a bit further towards

"your ultimate goal of becoming an airline pilot.

"I would like to offer you more instructional hours

"to try and get your first flight, solo flight, in two hours,

"in a full motion Airbus simulator."

Ah, that's mega. Brilliant.

-How do you feel about that?

-That's... Yeah, that's cool.

'Trevor is giving Paul the chance of a lifetime -

'he's sponsoring flying lessons, plus giving him a go in

'an Airbus flight simulator.

'Paul will be able to see first-hand what being an airline captain

'is really like.

'It's a huge opportunity

'and should help him on his way to become a pilot.'

A real pleasure, you know.

It's nice to meet someone who is that keen on flying

and it's made such a difference, I've heard, in your life so far.

-Yeah.

-And it really is my pleasure to be able to help you.

-Brilliant. Yeah.

-You could be a pilot soon.

-Yeah.

-Yeah!

Go on, three cheers for your dad.

-Hip hip!

-Hooray!

-Hip hip!

-Hooray!

-Hip hip!

-Hooray!

Are you going to give your dad a hug?

Aw!

You want to go flying?

No.

Maybe not.

What difference do you think this'll make for you?

It's going to be less stressful now.

I know that much, yeah, definitely.

You've had a tough time, I know...

-It's been a bit of a worry, yeah.

-But also, all we hear from everyone

is how you feel when you're flying. You feel amazing.

Well, Alex has said, "What are you going to do?

I was like, "Don't know. Fly aeroplanes, I don't know."

-It worked for him.

-Yeah, why not?

Why not? There's no reason why not at all.

And you've obviously got a bit of aptitude to it,

from what the guys here have said.

So, yeah, continue it, you know.

It's going to be a bit of a journey for you, I know, but you can do it.

You definitely can do it.

Yeah, of course you can!

That was excellent, that was excellent.

And, you know, Paul again,

the smile on his face, it's fantastic.

And, you know, with his family there as well, brilliant.

Absolutely brilliant, yeah. A real pleasure.

Anyway, we wanted to surprise you and we've done that.

-It was a surprise.

-So we'll leave you with your family now

-to catch up.

-Nice one.

-And they were all in on a secret as well, OK?

He knew all about it.

-Can't trust anyone, can you?

-Not even your dad!

It was brilliant. Yeah, absolutely brilliant.

I've never seen him so quiet. His face was a picture.

Let's go. Take care. All the best.

The gift that Trevor's given to me is unreal.

I would never have expected anything like that,

especially after these last couple of days.

I just thought this was about Trevor, not about me.

So, yeah, it's phenomenal. Really appreciate it.

-Going to fly?

-Fly!

If I can get a career, then it's one less thing I've got to worry about.

The bills are still going to get paid.

Still look after my family and do a positive role,

which is what I want to do.

Well, what an amazing experience it's been,

learning all about Trevor's early life,

as that plane-obsessed little boy growing up on

an East London council estate, to his disability,

and the fact that he's never let anything get in his way.

He achieved his dream to become an RAF fighter pilot.

Let's hope that determination rubs off on Paul.

He was bowled over by his gift.

Having Trevor as a mentor enables him to carry on

with the flying that he so clearly loves.

And who knows? It may lead to a future career in aviation.