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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/bomb-death-was-not-preventable.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="Nothing could have prevented the death of Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, a coroner has ruled" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/min-bomb-death-was-not-preventable.jpg" alt="Nothing could have prevented the death of Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, a coroner has ruled"/></a></p>
<p>Nothing in the Army operation which led to the death of a bomb disposal hero could have prevented his &#8220;catastrophic injuries&#8221; in Afghanistan, a coroner has recorded.</p>
<p>Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid was hailed as the bravest of the brave after disarming 64 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) during a single tour of duty in Helmand Province.</p>
<p>Cornwall coroner Emma Carlyon heard that the 30-year-old had been &#8220;impatient&#8221; and &#8220;not his usual jovial self&#8221; before he died.</p>
<p>But she accepted evidence that neither he nor his comrades could have done anything to prevent the blast that killed him.</p>
<p>Delivering a narrative verdict, she told Truro Coroner&#8217;s Court: &#8220;There was nothing in the operation which fell below what might have been expected and that could have contributed to his death.&#8221;</p>
<p>S/Sgt Schmid was posthumously awarded the George Cross for disarming 64 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in five months. But he triggered a new type of Taliban pressure plate before Army chiefs had been able to develop equipment to detect the device, it was revealed.</p>
<p>S/Sgt Schmid was hailed as an &#8220;inspiration&#8221; and a &#8220;giant of a man&#8221; during two days of evidence. But it was also revealed that he had been in a rush to get his job done after a poignant phone call with his stepson the day before.</p>
<p>Several comrades told how he was &#8220;impatient&#8221; and &#8220;frustrated&#8221; after his five-year-old stepson Laird told him: &#8220;Daddy, time to come home.&#8221;</p>
<p>Colonel Bob Seddon, Britain&#8217;s top bomb disposal officer who resigned last year, told how in the month after S/Sgt Schmid&#8217;s death in October 2009, the Army had 50% of its desired level of improvised explosive device (IED) specialists.</p>
<p>He also said it was a &#8220;constant battle&#8221; to keep up with new IEDs developed by the Taliban.</p>
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