Wounded British soldier gets lawsuit for Christmas?!

December 23, 2003 7:05 AM

Wounded British soldier gets lawsuit for Christmas?!Thankfully not.
Alan Tudball was supposed to marry his fiance Claire McCombe in April of this year, but unfortunately Iraq -- and friendly fire from two U.S. A-10 tankbusters (video) -- spoiled the wedding plans. Tudball would have died if not for brave Christopher Finney, who rescued the grievously wounded Tudball, even as the U.S. planes circled around for another strafing run. The M.O.D. refused to pay the wedding's cancellation fee, and the Leasowe Castle Hotel -- not knowing of Tudball's circumstances -- initiated a lawsuit, but after media attention and several concerned phone calls (mine included), I am pleased to announce that the management of the Leasowe Castle Hotel has announced that they are not only dropping the lawsuit, but that they will host the wedding of Mr. Alan Tudball and Miss Claire McCombe free of charge. It's worth noting that when our leaders seem to only be capable of serving up plastic turkeys, the action of ordinary people working together can still bring about honest-to-goodness Christmas miracles.
posted by insomnia_lj (2 comments total)

insomnia_lj, I just wanted to say, this is a neat little story, and thanks for posting it. Despite the angry ego thunder that surrounds posts concerning this little conflict on MeFi, I actually *like* happy endings every now and then.
posted by Wulfgar! at 3:03 PM on December 23, 2003

Interesting article and nice commment. I don't know if friend-on-friend fire is a good enough cause of immediate dismissal with dishonor of the person doing that, but it should be. Combine it with serious training and trigger happy people will think twice before shooting an object that doesn't show any immediate threat.
posted by elpapacito at 4:02 PM on December 23, 2003