Soldier's story of hope in the midst of the horror

Hurmija Mujic had been left paralysed by a shell and believed she had lost her whole family in the conflict during the 1990s, when Vic found her lying traumatised in a Sarajevo hospital.

But her plight sparked a remarkable campaign to bring her to England for treatment and to help other young victims of the war.

The soldier and the devastated child formed a close bond as he fought to raise £20,000 to take her to England for treatment.

Their story of hope in the midst of horror made the national and international headlines - bringing in assistance from around the world and enabling other children to be helped.

Now, 12 years on, the two are to be reunited as Vic prepares to travel once again to Bosnia.

Despite finding success as a designer in Ilkley, the former soldier is still haunted by the ghosts of his past and he is hoping some of these will be laid to rest when he returns to see Sarajevo in peacetime.

After his return, he is planning to start working again to help innocent victims of poverty, war and atrocity around the globe.

The story of one man's struggle to make a difference began in the winter of 1995 when Vic, then 32 and a Staff Sergeant in the British Army, was posted to Bosnia. The first NATO soldier into Bosnia, he was to act as staff assistant to the NATO Liaison Officer to the commander of the United Nations. He helped to co-ordinate the arrival of NATO troops and the departure of the UN forces. He later moved into the Coalition Press Information Centre, working on the frontline on Sarajevo's infamous Sniper Alley, and was promoted to Sergeant Major.

Despite many years in the Army, he was shocked by the scale of the devastation and suffering in the city, which had been under siege for three-and-a-half years when he arrived. It is estimated 12,000 people were killed and 50,000 were wounded - around 85 per cent of them civilian - during the siege, which lasted nearly four years.

Vic, who stresses there were atrocities on both sides, said: "The Serbs had completely surrounded the city and cut it off. There was no water and no electricity - and the winters were severe. I was the very first NATO soldier in Bosnia. I left NATO HQ at three days notice for what was supposed to be a 30 day tour."

In the event he was there for six months and was present at the meeting when the bombing of the Serbs, which ended the siege, was planned. "I had been a soldier for 15 years and used to instruct in combat survival - I thought I had done a bit," he said. "But when I flew into Sarajevo I was shocked by what I saw."

The scale of the devastation was overwhelming, with many buildings destroyed and most damaged by the onslaught.

When Vic arrived, gunmen were still targeting the city and risking a bullet was a daily fact of life.

"You would have road signs saying Caution, Sniper," he said. "We were shot at and mortared regularly, even when we were just walking home from lunch. It just became second nature."

But it was the plight of the children which really affected the father-of- three. He vividly remembers his first meeting with Hurmija, just a few days into his posting.

"She was sat in a dirty hospital bed in really stark conditions, although they were doing what they could. The sheets were worn and filthy and smelly and there were mortar holes in the wall. She said how she had been paralysed and told her whole story. It was terrible to see a child with a completely lifeless expression. I cried myself to sleep that night. And then I stole sheets and pyjamas and took them to the hospital."

Vic launched an appeal which was to result in £20,000 being raised to take the young girl away from the horrors of Sarajevo for rehabilitation in England, which helped her walk again with the aid of a special harness.

The appeal was taken up by a national newspaper and touched the hearts of people around the world - and led to Vic featuring on radio and TV in 50 countries. But as he prepares to return to Bosnia on February 7, he stressed: "I never set out to evacuate a child, definitely not. I thought about giving out a few sweets and teddy bears and feeling better about myself."

Hurmija had thought her whole family had been wiped out, but Vic said: "Within 12 weeks of meeting her I had evacuated her and found her mother, younger sister and twin sister in a refugee camp and another brother and sister through the Red Cross. Sadly, her father and two oldest brothers had been killed."

Hurmija's story inspired people all over the world to raise money, from people holding coffee mornings to children baking cakes and even a 24-hour marathon around Cyprus by soldiers.

As the appeal snowballed, help was found not just for her, but for others like her. Vic formed a non-governmental organisation called Kids in Desperate Situations, raising more than £75,000 to evacuate other sick children.

The last child to get out with Vic's help was a desperately sick baby whose mother had died in childbirth. The baby, who had a heart condition, was flown to Italy for treatment after Vic made a direct appeal to an Italian air force general who agreed to supply a plane.

That rescue was to be Vic's last and, although he didn't know it, his life as a serving soldier was about to end. Within hours of the child arriving in Italy, he had flown back to his home in Germany and was riding his motorcycle back to England to see his family when he was involved in an horrific crash.

He spent 18 months in hospital and was warned by doctors that he would never walk again. He has regained the use of his legs, but even today suffers terrible pain from his injuries.

"My last day as a soldier was the 11 hours following the evacuation of that baby," he said. "Since then I have never served again.

Despite everything he achieved in Bosnia, Vic admits to having felt helpless in the face of such suffering and need. He still suffers from post traumatic stress, the horror of some of the things he witnessed still etched clearly in his memory today.

"Just putting on a uniform doesn't make you anything other than a human being," he said.

He describes being taken to see a school gymnasium which had been used as a rape camp, and he vividly remembers other victims of the conflict.

He did everything he could to help children whose lives and bodies had been shattered, taking aid to hospitals and helping to set up kindergartens.

Vic said he was not the only one ignoring the rules in order to help. "I used to steal food and sneak out of the residency overnight and go to the hospital," he said. "But I was definitely not the only soldier to help children in Bosnia - soldiers do that anywhere. I promise you now there are soldiers in Afghanistan feeding the kids. "

Despite his success in helping these children, the things he saw in Bosnia left him suffering nightmares and flashbacks. Now he hopes his return, together with his fiancee Sonja, will help him to come to terms with the past.

"This Bosnian trip for me is really to get over the post traumatic stress that I have suffered for 12 years. I need to revisit Sarajevo."

While they are there, they will stay with the couple who helped set up Kids in Desperate Situations. And they have written to Hurmija, who is now a successful paralympic athlete, and are planning a reunion with her.

"She says that she remembers Vic and would love to see him again," Sonja said.

The couple have put together an album for Hurmija. Vic says: "She was really important to me and not a day has ever passed in my life that I have not thought about her - not a single day."

Now Vic is hoping to start helping children again, not just in Bosnia but around the world. He is considering a number of fundraising schemes and he hopes to offer his help to existing charities.

He is hoping to motivate and inspire youngsters in this country to reach out and help children around the world.

"There is suffering all over the world, you don't have to go far to look for it," he said. "If I can inspire one other person to do something then that would be cool.

"Achieving what I achieved in Bosnia is without question the best I have ever been as a man."