A British Soldier Picked Up A Live Grenade And Threw It Back At Taliban Soldiers During A Battle In Afghanistan

I don't have any combat experience. But I'm pretty sure that if I was in a battle, I'd want THIS guy fighting alongside me . . .

--Recently, British soldiers in southern Afghanistan were engaged in a battle with Taliban fighters.

--One of the soldiers, Rifleman James McKie, was positioned on top of a building near his platoon commander, when a LIVE GRENADE flew through the air, hit his platoon commander, and landed at his feet.

--The building was too high for them to jump off of. And even if they had, there's no way they could have alerted their fellow soldiers. So James PICKED UP the grenade and threw it back at the enemy. (!!!)

--A split-second after the grenade left James' hand, it exploded in mid-air. Fragments of the grenade sprayed James' face and arm, and the platoon commander suffered leg injuries, but he was evacuated and is recovering.

--James says, quote, "I remember thinking that if I didn't pull this off, it was going to hurt. But at that stage I was pretty much committed . . . My platoon has taken a lot of casualties. I really didn't want to see anyone else get hurt."

Check out a photo of James after the battle, here . . .