Iraq blast officer in canoe race

Major David Bradley, 39, of Tidworth in Wiltshire, was given a 5% chance of survival after being hit by two rocket-propelled grenades while rescuing colleagues in Basra in 2004.

Against the odds, the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment soldier pulled through, although he lost the sight in his right eye and part of his right shoulder and hand.

Maj Bradley credits his survival to the expertise of field hospital medics and staff at Headley Court, the tri-service rehabilitation facility in Surrey where he spent six months regaining the use of his right arm.

Married father-of-two Maj Bradley is doing the challenge to raise money for Help for Heroes, a charity supporting service personnel wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, and currently trying to raise £6 million to build a swimming pool and new gym complex at Headley Court.

He will begin the 125-mile paddle from Devizes in Wiltshire to Westminster, London. He and the other race participants will navigate, largely in darkness, along the Kennet & Avon Canal on Saturday night before hitting the River Thames on Easter Sunday.

Maj Bradley will paddle in a two-man canoe with friend and ex-serviceman Steve Vinall.

Among a four-man, land-based support team helping Maj Bradley will be Sergeant Shane Willoughby, 39, a soldier with 4th Battalion The Rifles, from Amesbury in Wiltshire. They will meet the canoeists at various points along the way, handing them food and water and boosting morale.

Sgt Willoughby was seriously injured himself while serving in Iraq in January last year, taking a direct hit from a rocket while he was asleep in his room. He suffered wounds to his face, arm, chest, leg and lost the sight in his right eye.