The blast on January 11 this year took the patrol by surprise.
The soldiers had already made it through the doorway and into the compound but Lieutenant Garth Banks was not so lucky. The improvised explosive device (IED) severely injured the young officer who was leading his patrol of Grenadier Guardsmen in Helmand Province.
Garth, aged only 26, was on his first tour of Afghanistan and , having been on operations for four months, was about to return home for some rest and recuperation - R&R, as it's known. He was horrifically injured, losing both his legs and damaging his hands.
This same man was sitting quietly in his wheelchair listening to Katherine Jenkins only last week at the Serenata Festival near Kimmeridge. I had been asked to the classical music festival by the organisers to introduce an extraordinary mother, Denise Harris, who established the charity Afghan Heroes, after her son, Corporal Lee Scott of 2RTR, had been killed in Afghanistan on July 10, 2009.
Understandable emotional, Denise passed the task to her husband, Andy, who plays a major part in the charity. It was a fitting coincidence , therefore, that Grath was at the concert. He'd come with his parents, Elaine and John, who knew the organisers.
Even more appropriate was a lovely song called Angels, which Katherine Jenkins dedicated to our troops.
And it was at this moment that I looked down on Garth in his wheelchair beside me. The stage lights had illuminated his face, so I could see his profile clearly. Not much older than my son, Garth was listening intently.
Garth's zest for life not only brought him back from the brink of death but it's also given him heart for the future.
Supported by wonderful parents, he's mastering artificial legs and planning a career in business.
All who met Garth that night were struck by something akin to a physical blow, his aura was so remarkable.