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BRITISH RAMBO
I shouldn’t be alive but I survived multiple shrapnel wounds in battle with Russian troops, reveals Brit war hero
A BRITISH war hero who survived multiple gunshot and shrapnel wounds in a terrifying battle with Russian troops has been dubbed Rambo by pals.
Shareef Amin was hit by bullets as he ran through enemy fire before being blown off his feet by artillery rounds.
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That left one of his unit catastrophically wounded and another dead as Shareef, 40, who served two tours of Afghanistan and sports a mohawk haircut, was pinned down by the body of his “brother in arms”.
He suffered two punctured lungs and significant injuries to every single limb.
But, showing toughness that has seen him likened to Sylvester Stallone’s movie soldier, he managed to use a foot to propel himself on his back through the mud amid fierce shelling - and remained conscious as he waited to be rescued.
He was eventually rushed from the front line to hospital but his injuries were so extensive medics feared he would end up losing his right foot and arm and grimly whispered: “He’s not going to make it.”
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In an exclusive interview from his hospital in Ukraine, Shareef said: “I shouldn’t be alive. I was in a shallow trench with my friend, a Ukrainian who we called Professor, helmet to helmet, hand in hand, as the artillery rounds just kept coming.
“The next thing I know I hear this almighty thud. It felt like someone had dragged me underground.”
Fighting back tears, he recalled: “Professor’s body just went limp like a rag doll. He landed on top of me. At that point I knew I’d been hit. I thought, ’I’m dead here. This is where I die.’
"Professor was gone, I couldn't get him off me. I shouted up to Sham to see if he was still alive and said 'I can't get out'."
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"This hero, Oleh Shumov, still under fire, jumped out of the trench, grabbed Professor by the helmet and dragged him off my body.
"I pushed myself up and felt this almighty f***ing agony through my lungs, through my arm.
"I looked down and my hand was hanging off. I had my belt kit around me, my body armour, everything on me.
I don’t know how I got the strength to pull myself out of that ditch. As I did I could see this huge piece of shrapnel sticking out of my leg. It was like a tin can.
"I forced myself onto my back and my commander pulled me away into some sort of cover as the rounds kept coming down.
"It started to rain and I told my commander 'you need to get me off these rocks, I'm lying on rocks here and I'm in agony'.
"He says 'you're not on rocks mate, that's the shrapnel that's gone up through your body armour and into your back.
"He said 'don't worry, I don't know how but I'm going to get you out of here'."
Shareef and Sham were rescued by Kozak Warrior vehicles and driven 20 minutes under-fire to waiting ambulances and onto hospital.
Shareef, who has since been awarded a medal for his bravery, said: "I've no regrets. I couldn't sit by, stick a flag on Facebook and a fiver in a fundraiser. What's that going to do?"
If I sat at home on my laurels, despite having skills that can help, what kind of human being am I?"
Shareef, whose Ukrainian fiance and ten-year-old son hope to settle in the UK, first answered Ukraine’s call for help in March after Russia launched its now-botched full-scale invasion. He began ferrying medical kit before providing basic training.
He was then deployed to fight and, two weeks ago, his brigade came under intense fire during deep reconnaissance.
Shareef, awarded a Ukrainian bravery medal, had surgery to save his limbs but still has little feeling in his right hand and foot — although he defied doctors by walking again so soon.
Three pieces of shrapnel removed from his body sit in a glass jar next to his bedside.
A has been launched to get him, his fiancee Helen Vitvickaja, 33, and her son Platon back to the UK.
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Helen said: “He’s my hero, Ukraine’s hero and the world’s hero. I’m so proud of him.”
Shareef will join them when he can but is determined to still help defend his adoptive country.
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