Inspirational Falklands War veteran Simon Weston was in York last night to tell breast cancer workers how he learned to live with his injuries.

Falklands veteran Simon Weston at the Royal York Hotel where he was guest speaker at a gala dinner for breast care nurses

The former Welsh Guardsman, who was left severely burned after his troop-ship, the Sir Galahad, was bombed during the 1982 conflict, shared his experiences at the Yorkshire Breast Care Nurses Group national conference at the Royal York Hotel.

And he told the Evening Press the fact that his mother had suffered breast cancer added a great personal poignancy.

Before addressing a gala dinner on the first day of the conference he told the Evening Press: "When you are visibly damaged or altered you think you are the only one with the problem and you don't realise there are other people with problems.

"Hopefully, by example, I'll be able to show people that whatever you have got is not that important. It's what you do about it that counts.

"To some people the problems they suffer can be so depressing they feel they can't go on.

"We pump out these stereotypes that people should be physically perfect, particularly women, but it happens that there are people who are not, and it doesn't make them any less.

"We have got to bring these issues to the fore and hopefully allow people to be themselves.

"There's a great richness to life if you can deal with these things, but nothing happens overnight."

He told how his mother, Pauline Hatfield, had been diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago.

He said: "She was extremely lucky that they caught it very early on. I didn't even consider anything could go wrong.

"It does add a great poignancy to what the people here tonight are trying to do."

His talk covered his experiences of the Falklands War, his time in hospital, his lengthy recovery, and his future.

Conference organiser Judith Cadamy, a breast cancer nurse at Airedale General Hospital, in West Yorkshire, said: "Because of his injuries Simon is someone that women who have altered body image can identify with and they can see how he has coped."

The two-day conference, Past, Present And Predictions, has brought delegates from across the country to hear from a range of experts on the many issues surrounding breast care.

A collection was held at last night's dinner for Mr Weston's charity, The Weston Spirit, which helps needy youngsters and is soon to open a new centre in Leeds.

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