I went out on patrol in Afghanistan with 1 Rifles, the former Devon and Dorsets and endured constant fear then finally deep embarassment.

We were flown into Patrol Base 2 from Camp Bastion by Chinook to see the battalion headquarters and B Company.

The heat from the exhausts was scorching as we ran on and the flight was full of jinks and curves to avoid any fire and it fired off decoy flares.

After seeing it on the news for so many years, it was fascinating to see the Afghans’ mud compounds whizzing past below.

We arrived to the spartan conditions of the patrol base, home to around 300 soldiers for six months. Not long afterwards I had the chance to join a joint patrol by Afghan soldiers and members of 1 Rifles that was expected to last around two hours.

Leaving the base I felt a sickly feeling of fear but for the soldiers it was just one more patrol among many. Walking through the village streets you could see how vulnerable they could be.

There were alleyways, high compound walls and broken ground that could disguise IEDs. The Afghans seemed to mainly get around on motorbikes and they were all treated with suspicion until it became clear they were just going about their business.

As the patrol went on I began to feel hot and ill and the corporal in charge came to check on me.

He immediately realised I had a heat illness. I felt ashamed to have flaked out and also to have put the men’s lives at greater risk – we were on an open road surrounded by fields and every minute increased the chance of attack.

The men led me to some shade and helped me walk back but I was already becoming confused because I kept apologising and insisting I could walk unaided. I can’t remember anything after that.

I’m told an American ‘Pedro’, a medically equipped Black Hawk, medivacced me out and I awoke in Camp Bastion Hospital. The doctors told me I had a temperature of 41C, that my blood tests were ‘deranged’, and that I was the worst case of heat illness they’ve had this year.

In a way I was happy – at least the men of 1 Rifles had put themselves at greater risk for a genuine illness.

The head of the hospital told me I have to fly home on Sunday as the illness could reoccur and it could put the soldiers at risk if they have to deal with me. One upside was it gave me an insight into the tremendous level of care in the hospital.

The staff could not be more helpful, I have a room to myself and I feel very lucky compared to some of the other patients. In another ward there is an Afghan child with no legs and part of their head missing after stepping on an IED - and they gets the same care as any other patient.