07 September 2023 , 14:25
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A brave British volunteer working as a medic in the Ukraine army was killed while going to the rescue of an injured colleague, a coroner has ruled.
An inquest into the death of heroic Craig Mackintosh reached its conclusion with the coroner ruling that the 48-year-old died "while in active service" near the north east city of Kharkiv in war-torn Ukraine.
According to reports, Mr Mackintosh and his squad were out on a patrol on August 24 last year when they were ambushed by Russian troops. He was understood to have suffered fatal wounds to the neck as he ran to the rescue of an injured colleague and got caught in the crossfire.
Presiding over the inquest into his death, Oxfordshire Senior Coroner Darren Salter said: "Craig Mackintosh previously served in the British Territorial Army as a medic and in March 2022 he volunteered to serve in the Ukrainian army as a medic. On August 24, 2022, he died due to a penetrating projectile wound to the neck from small arms fire while going to the rescue of an injured colleague."
Mr Salter explained Mr Mackintosh's death could not be categorised as any of the four usual manners of death found in inquests - suicide, accident, natural causes, or homicide - because of his military role: "The conclusion of this inquest is a narrative one in that Mr Mackintosh was killed while in active service."
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Mr Mackintosh, from Thetford, Norfolk, leaves behind two daughters and two stepdaughters. He served in the Territorial Army between the ages of 16 years and 23 years but his hopes of becoming a full-time soldier were thwarted when he failed a medical examination. Instead, he became a gardener and tree surgeon.
Lorna Mackintosh, Craig's sister, said: "Our brother bravely volunteered to go to Ukraine as a medic to help save lives in this war-torn country."
She was reported as saying at he time: "He told us this would be his 'last hurrah' before coming back to Blighty to be a gardener in October. It had always been his dream to serve in the armed forces and watching the conflict unfold and seeing the devastation, he decided he wanted to go out to help people."