A Royal Marine who was shot in the head while on patrol in Afghanistan has told of the moment he thought he was dead.

Marine Liam Brentley, 25, spoke of his ordeal as he returned to Bradford from a rehabilitation centre in Surrey to attend a fundraising event for forces’ charity Help the Heroes.

The former professional rugby league player, of Bierley, Bradford, survived after a bullet fired by an insurgent hit his glasses, entered his head near his ear and exited through the back of his skull.

Three days after the attack, four months ago, he underwent a life-saving 12-hour operation, led by consultant neurosurgeon Graham Flint, at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

Recalling the attack, Marine Brentley said: “We started getting contact massively. We were returning fire – we thought we had finished it. I sat up to have a look and that’s when I got shot.”

Marine Brentley is now receiving treatment at Headley Court rehabilitation centre in Epsom, Surrey, and will undergo further brain surgery next year.

The former Buttershaw School pupil, who played rugby for Sheffield Eagles and Bradford Dudley Hill, was in Bradford to attend a fundraiser at the Moorfield Inn in Cutler Heights Lane. His friend Tony Lambert had his beard and hair shaved off to raise money for Help for Heroes.

e-mail: hannah.baker@telegraphandargus.co.uk

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