By Leeza Clark

A HEROIC soldier blinded while on duty in Iraq is gearing up for the weekend of his life.

But there will be no quiet preparations for Ben Shaw as he gets set to tie the knot with his Edinburgh sweetheart Louise this Sunday. Instead, he will get behind the wheel of a Ferrari 360 Modena to lap Knockhill racing circuit in front of thousands of fans visiting the Scottish Motor Show.

Not content to stop there, he wants to try to break the land speed record for a blind driver.

His first chance to drive since being blinded and severely injured by a roadside bomb while driving the lead vehicle in a patrol in southern Iraq in February last year came at the track earlier this week and left the self-confessed petrolhead feeling “like a lad in a sweetshop.”

His first taste of being in control of a high-powered Seat Cupra at Knockhill was a far cry from the last time Ben (25) was behind the wheel.

The rifleman had been with the Edinburgh-based B Company 2LI, now the 3rd Battalion The Rifles, for four years at the start of his tour of Iraq.

His love of driving had often seen him leading the company’s routine patrols and on February 25, 2007, he was again driving the lead vehicle in a rural area south west of Basra.

They were hit by a 45kg roadside bomb and the main part of the bomb hit the top of Ben’s vehicle, showering the Hereford man with shrapnel.

Despite being severely wounded, Ben tried to control his vehicle but it was thrown around by the blast and hit an oncoming petrol tanker before flipping over.

The rest of the patrol ran to the aid of the four injured men and Ben, who was starting to regain his senses, was pulled out and immediately tried to take command, telling his comrades to carry out their action drills.

But once the shock set in he collapsed and two of his fellow soldiers started emergency first aid.

Ben was driven straight to the field hospital and it was that decision which almost certainly saved his life. Once he was stabilised, he was taken to the American combat support hospital north of Baghdad where medics desperately tried to save his sight.

He had lost one eye immediately and the surgical team was unable to save his other eye.

He also sustained severe injuries to his right arm, a fracture to the base of his skull, multiple fractures and breaks to bones in his face and nose and open wounds.

Once he returned to the UK, he spent time in the military wing at Selly Oak Hospital, undergoing many operations to rebuild his shattered body.

It has been a long haul for Ben and he has been helped along the way by the Livingston Hospital, the Edinburgh Eye Pavilion, the RNIB and the Scottish Institute for the War Blinded.

And it is thanks to one member of staff at the Linburn institute that his dream of taking to the open road again has become a reality.

For when Lesley Meikle started working with Ben they discovered a shared interest in motorsport, with Lesley’s son Gary working at Knockhill.

Discussions began with Graham Brunton, who has been an instructor at Knockhill since 1989 and has put thousands of enthusiasts—Ferrari fans in particular—through their paces.

“Because of my son’s involvement in motorsport, I asked if Ben could be taken around in the two-seater Ferrari,” said Lesley

But Knockhill went one further and offered Ben the chance to drive as Graham said he felt he should not be excluded just because of his disability.

“This is a fantastic opportunity. He described himself as a petrolhead and with the younger generation who are our blind beneficiaries it is so important to them to have that independence, so this has been absolutely great.

“He loved driving and I cannot thank Knockhill enough. What they have done has been fantastic and had gone far beyond what I had hoped for.”

Graham, who took Ben out for his first flying test laps, was most impressed by his new protege’s natural ability at the controls.

“He is well capable,” said Graham, who will be handing the mentoring job to his brother Alan, as he is attending the vintage Grand Prix in Monaco this week.

“I must have sat beside tens of thousands of people in my time and it is all about people being able to take instruction and listen.

“Some need to hear things a lot of times and others pick it up quickly; some take input well and that makes the job easier.

“Because of his mechanical background and feel for a vehicle, we are halfway there already,” he said of the first training stint.

“Whether he can see the corners or not, he has ears and he is really listening to us,” he said.

Perhaps because of Ben’s background in the army, and his love of rallying— where a driver is dependent on his co-pilot to plot his course—he took instruction well and was soon out on the twisting 1.3-mile track, reaching a top speed of 60mph before being taken for a literal spin by Graham’s son Craig in the single-seater Ferrari which has been specially adapted to carry a passenger.

Despite the unscheduled spin, a grinning Ben described the experience as “amazing.”

Tomorrow, Ben will be back for more instruction, but explained the technique used to steer a course around a track he cannot see, keeping his hands on the wheel at quarter to three and guiding the wheel under Graham’s instruction.

Determined to “not let the side down” in front of the huge crowds expected on Saturday, Ben was concentrating on getting the job done.

However, perhaps wisely, he said it will not be as big a day as Sunday, when he will again be in the spotlight—albeit before a smaller crowd of just over 100 who will gather to watch him tie the knot with Louise, whom he met on a night out in Edinburgh.

“I am looking forward to Sunday, with Saturday’s drive happening it completes the weekend, but Sunday is the most important,” he said of taking his wedding vows, which had to be postponed as he recuperated.

His love of cars won’t be far from the surface then, either, as Ben revealed he had booked a Lamborghini Gallardo to get him to the wedding in Dalmahoy.

And after the confetti is cleared away, Ben is keen that Saturday’s drive will not be merely a pleasant memory as he is concentrating efforts on that land speed record of 167mph—and Graham has pledged to help him.

“I believe him when he says he will try and do it.

“I would like to be involved in helping him, it is the least I can so,” he said.