NOT every soldier gets the chance to put his commander in a full nelson and give him a good shaking.
Gurkha Lance-Corporal Indraprasad Ghale did and today he will be honoured for it. In fact his commander Captain Kulbahadur Thapa wrote the citation.
''It took me a few minutes to realise it, but he saved my life,'' Captain Thapa said last night, reflecting on the night last October in the Brunei jungle when his six-man signal detachment was struck by lightning.
Captain Thapa writhed, unconscious, and two other soldiers lay paralysed while Corporal Ghale treated them and organised their rescue, out of radio contact and 45 minutes through dense foliage to his platoon.
''The captain was jumping all around like crazy, he was out of control and screaming . . . the lightning had thrown him five metres,'' he said.
''I just put my arms tightly around his chest, held him up and shook him . . . I know he was my commander, and I had always respected him, but I had to do that to get him to calm down. I thought he was going to die.