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Injured Iraq veteran ‘owes’ her face to ‘Guinea Pigs’

An injured Iraq war veteran thanked the grandson of a Second World War surgeon for his grandfather’s work in pioneering surgery that “saved” her face.

Hannah Campbell, who was buried alive when a mortar bomb hit the building she was guarding in Iraq in 2007, had extensive facial plastic surgery.

She said she had directly benefitted from the work of Sir Archibald McIndoe who developed new surgical techniques treating a group of Allied servicemen who were badly burnt in World War Two. The group called themselves The Guinea Pig Club.

Hannah told Sir Archibald’s grandson Gordon Bebb; “Without your grandfather, my face would not be as it is today – I’m very lucky.”

Hannah and Gordon spoke as a monument was unveiled in memory of the Guinea Pig Club at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

This clip is originally from 5 live Breakfast on Wednesday 2 November 2016.

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