Against all odds: a soldier’s pathway from fighting to Freemasonry

Watching two initiates join Lincoln’s Witham Lodge was one of the most unexpectedly moving and profound evenings of my Masonic journey, writes Rod Whiting.

My interest was piqued when the DC Richard Howcroft said the ceremony was to be ‘rather different’; necessary because candidate Dean Bousfield was an Afghanistan veteran who’d suffered serious injuries in combat. Said Richard: “We have therefore made some changes to accommodate his restricted mobility”.

The story begins in early 2004 when then 20-year-old Dean Bousfield from Middlesbrough joined the army, transferring to the Royal Army Medical Corps on completion of his Special Forces training in September of that year. It wasn’t long before Dean was in front-line action with a tour in Iraq followed by a second tour in 2007/8.

These were turbulent times in Iraq, and the British base at Al Amara, where Dean was based, was described as one of the most attacked bases in the country. Dean lost fifteen close colleagues, some of them women, during frequent attacks by insurgents.

The experience did nothing to discourage Dean from his military commitments, and he decided to undertake parachute training to upgrade his abilities as a front-line medic. Even though he’d lost close friends on previous tours, Dean recalls: “I just wanted, needed even, to be the best and to work with the best and pushed myself really hard to get there”.

Having earned his wings he successfully joined the Special Forces Medical Support Unit at Hereford and, after passing his Special Forces Medical training, was soon off to Helmand Province in Afghanistan in 2010. It was here that the course of Dean’s life was so drastically to change. While moving through a small village on an oppressively hot day during a three-day patrol, Dean’s unit came under fire. Ducking under a wall, Dean set up to return fire when, as he puts it: “the lights went out”. Later accounts revealed that Dean had been shot from the flank by a Taliban insurgent. The attending medic could find no injury,until he removed Dean’s helmet. The bullet, which Dean still has, had passed through the helmet, through Dean’s brain and lodged into the opposite side of the helmet.

The lights didn’t come back on for Dean for at least four weeks, as he was kept in an induced coma at a hospital unit in Birmingham. When he came to, he was unable to move and had locked-in syndrome. That means he was aware of what was going on around him, but was unable to communicate. When he was finally able to indicate that there was life by blinking, to the astonishment of medical staff, the long journey of rehabilitation began.

Fast forward three years, and Dean had progressed from total paralysis to functional life. The brain injury had left him with good use of his right side, but his left side was severely affected. He was not yet confident in walking, so on leaving a specialist brain injury rehabilitation centre in March 2013 and the Army shortly afterwards, Dean needed to convert his new home in Lincoln to accommodate his restricted mobility. Over the next four years, Dean’s strength and confidence improved to the point he was able to walk again, and he signed up to complete the Help For Heroes Big Battlefield Bike Ride from Brussels to Paris.

Later that year he joined the Paralympic Development Team for seated throwing, and took part in the Invictus Games in London, winning Bronze in the Discus.

In late 2015, Dean had his left arm amputated. “Although the arm appeared normal, it was completely disconnected from my brain”, he says. “It took more than a year to find a surgeon who understood my problems and was willing to do the procedure. It was a Godsend – my balance and confidence improved, and I was in considerably less pain.”

Dean had no intention of letting his injuries get in the way of his lust for adventure and, in 2022, he completed two skydives onto the highest drop-zone in the world after trekking 12,500 ft on the approach to Mount Everest to Syangboche airfield. During this time Dean had been struggling to find employment because of ‘lack of experience’. However, after being given some voluntary work as a data analyst by the NHS, doors began to open.

In 2020 he was approached by SaluteMyJob, who encouraged him to complete a master’s degree in cyber security and set up his own company, Spartan Analytics.

Key to Dean’s recovery during these challenging years was his girlfriend Hayley, who he’d met on an online dating site in 2012. Hayley was part of the British Eventing Team, and after agreeing to meet up, came and collected Dean from the rehab unit, helped transfer him into her car and took him to a local restaurant. The date must have gone well because twelve years, a marriage and two children later, the family now live happily on a small farm near Lincoln. “My family is my world”, says Dean.

“Running a business from home can be a solitary affair and Hayley suggested I needed to find a social outlet. Looking around, I came across the UGLE website and I was directed to the Lincolnshire Province. I opted for Witham Lodge because it had so much history behind it.” The date was set for Dean’s initiation and the planning began to make it as comfortable for him as possible without compromising the ceremony, either for himself or fellow initiate John Walker. Says Dean: “I was a bit apprehensive about the ceremony, having no idea what was involved. It was all a bit of a blur and before I knew it, I was sitting down in the festive board chatting with the Master of the Lodge, John McGowan, and Andy Ham, the Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies. It was a fantastic evening and an experience I will never forget. I feel honoured and privileged to be a part of Freemasonry. I love the history behind it and the camaraderie it offers. I feel part of a new family and I can’t wait to learn about the craft and its many aspects.”

Hayley is delighted Dean has found a group that has made him feel so welcome, and is looking forward to attending some of the social events.

I can only echo Dean’s words; it was an honour and a privilege to be part of the evening which ended with the Masonic Chain being formed by brothers resting their right hand on the shoulder of the brother next to them – a lovely inclusive touch – bringing a lump to the throat as we sang the Entered Apprentice Song.

The closing song of Worthy Masons All couldn’t have been more appropriate: weeks of planning and rehearsals leading to a flawless execution leaving both candidates with lasting memories of a very special night, not just for them but for everyone involved.

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