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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Jacob Phillips and Sami Quadri

Former Royal Marine Mark Ormrod's stolen prosthetic legs found by woman in alleyway

A triple amputee war hero has recovered his prosthetic legs after they were stolen from his car in west London.

Afghanistan veteran Mark Ormrod, 40, parked his motor in a disabled space at a Premier Inn in Chiswick.

He sparked a huge wave of public support after taking to social media on Wednesday to reveal the prosthetics were stolen alongside his gym and JiuJitsu clothes.

But the items were returned when a woman contacted him after she discovered his belongings thrown away in an alley.

In an update on X, formerly Twitter, Mr Ormrod said: "On my way out of London tonight I checked my emails and DMs and had messages from a woman who said she'd found my stuff just after 8pm last night in an alley by her house and somehow saw my social media post about it! I now have everything back."

The former Royal Marine lost three limbs in Afghanistan after he stepped on an improvised explosive device (IED) in Helmand on Christmas Eve 2007.

The triple-amputee won a gold medal at the Invictus Games and was appointed an MBE for his services to the Royal Marines and veterans.

In his original post about the theft, Mr Ormrod said he had "had better starts to my day" as he shared footage of the smashed back window of his car.

He added: "They stole a bag full of sweaty gym clothes, another bag with my JiuJitsu Gi in and what’s really inconvenient is they took a set of my prosthetic legs!

"Despite having 3 cameras pointing at my car I was told by the staff at the hotel that they couldn't see any activity as the view to my car was blocked by another car (might be time to reposition those cameras).

"The sad thing is to think that someone would break into a car parked in a disabled parking space and steal equipment someone needs to live independently and not even care," a post on X, formerly Twitter, added.

The car was parked at a Premier Inn in Chiswick, which said its security cameras did not capture the incident, according to the BBC.

Mr Ormrod, who became the UK's first triple amputee from Afghanistan after losing his legs and his right arm, had to raise more than £140,000 for artificial limbs and sockets to be fitted by experts.

Premier Inn has been contacted for comment.

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