An Action-packed career

Albert Thomson is opening up surprising new job opportunities for disabled people as managing director of Action Amps

Until 2003, I was a fit and active soldier who had served in numerous conflicts from the Gulf War in 1990 to Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Kosovo. But at the start of the Iraq War in 2003, aged 33, I was hit several times by machine-gun fire, resulting in horrific injuries and the loss of my left leg above the knee.

I was hospitalised for two months, during which time I contemplated what the future might hold for me. Realising I was in charge of my own destiny, I started thinking of using amputees to enhance the training of our armed forces and emergency services by creating realistic casualty simulations. I went on to form a company, Action Amps (Amputee Casualty Simulations Ltd).

Members as young as 18 who were born without limbs have since participated in training exercises with the army where the use of special effects make-up helps to create a realistic battlefield situation.

Members find themselves being tossed around, shot and blown up. The military gain realistic and effective training and the amputee gains a sense of achievement.

More recently, I have also been contacted by film and TV companies keen to use the unique abilities of amputees. As a result, our members have taken part in stunt work in films such as Troy, Gladiator, Batman and, more recently, Wolfman. This kind of work is still rare, though, because the UK Stunt Register currently only allows registration of non-disabled people. Hopefully, with the media welcoming the use of amputees for an increasingly wide range of work, this will change. But I am also investigating whether I can set up a stunt register for disabled people. So, for example, if there were disabled horse-riders who could fall off a horse, then that could be their speciality.

Despite having no acting experience, I have been involved in some of this work myself. In the last four years, I have secured parts in feature films and dramas and I have also done a few stunts. But there are certain things I cannot do. I would not be able to run about as a man on fire or ride a horse, but I can successfully do high falls and falls through the air resulting from explosions.

I actively encourage disabled people to join as many extras agencies as possible in an effort to gain maximum exposure to the industry. Hopefully, each individual will then become recognised as a supplier of a unique service.

If anyone is interested in following this line of work, I would be happy to talk to them* and put them in touch with other disabled stuntmen who are already on the path to “stardom”.

* To contact Albert, tel: 01733 869908 or visit www.actionamps.com

ALBERT THOMSON: CAREER PATH
• 1984 – left Whitburn Academy, West Lothian, at 16
• 1986 – joined the army, aged 18
• 1987 – first posting, to Germany
• 2003 – became colour sergeant
• 2003 – injured in Iraq
• 2005 – founded Action Amps