This Granddad Has Gone to Fight ISIS in Iraq

Read: Inside the Mind Control Methods ISIS Use to Recruit British Teenagers

In a very rare case of a 53-year-old British anti-jihadist putting their money where their mouth is, Jim Atherton of Tyne and Wear has decided that enough is enough, and has gone to join the fight against ISIS in Iraq.

British authorities have implored the grandfather to return home, after he sold his car, motorbikes and a boat to raise £18,000 (€25,500) for weapons and plane rides to the belly of the beast. But Jim Atherton is not for returning. Jim Atherton went to blow those ISIS bastards up, and blow them up is what he is going to do.

He was reportedly encouraged into joining the fight after coming across a Christian militia by the name of Dwekh Nawsha, or "The Sacrificers", whose aim is to protect Christian villages. Though his family were naturally upset by the idea of their patriarch being shot at every five minutes – Atherton has already been attacked with mortars and rockets – he says that "it was just something [he] had to do".

"Our lodging is taken care of and so is our food. But the grub is not always great for Western stomachs. I really miss bacon sandwiches — although you get HP sauce."

Atherton, who was caring for rescued sausage dogs when he made the decision to go to Iraq, has no military experience but has "been made to feel very welcome": "I arrived with no military training but I'm fairly savvy with weapons already because my dad was into competition shooting," he told the Sun.