Staffordshire Helmand hero Clive gets on his bike for Britain

"I tried to get up, and kept falling over again, and I thought 'this is a bit weird'," he recalls.

He quickly discovered why he couldn't get up.

The explosion had taken away both his legs.

"I didn't feel it at the time," says the soldier, who had just been promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal.

"The training kicks in, and the first thing you do is try to sort it out. I was looking around to see who was injured, it was another three or four minutes before I realised it was me."

That was in October 2010. Now, almost four years on, the 28-year-old was welcomed by Prince Harry as one of the 130 British representatives at the launch of his inaugural Invictus Games, an international sporting event for wounded, injured and sick Servicemen and women

Clive, from Rugeley Road, Hednesford, will represent Britain at cycling in the Olympics-style event which will see more than 400 competitors from 14 nations compete at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London next month.

Prince Harry, who himself has performed two tours of duty in Afghanistan, has been the driving force behind the games which run from September 10 to 14, after being inspired by the Warrior Games in the US.

And Clive, who has been training three days a week after securing a place in the England cycling time trials squad, says it was a privilege to meet the Prince.

He says: "The games are Harry's baby and it was really nice to meet him and speak to him about my training.

"He asked each of the 130 squad members how they were getting on and joked with us all which was nice.

"My training is going really well and I am going out on the bike three to four times a week."

Clive, who was serving with 33 Engineer Regiment when he was injured in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand, said the Help 4 Heroes and Royal British Legion charities played a huge role in helping him find rehabilitation through sport.

During April 2012 he spent a week involved in adaptive sports and adventure training at the Battle Back Centre, Lilleshall for the recovery of wounded service personnel.

"I tried a bit of everything, wheelchair basketball, rock climbing, bowling, but it was cycling where I really found my niche.

"I played a lot of football but I never really did much cycling before."

The training for the Invictus Games is tough, but Clive is quietly confident he will be able to give his best when the games begin.

"The most I've done in one session is 70 miles so I think I will be fine when it comes to the games," he says.

"Being at the launch was fantastic and it was great to be back in the company of some of the guys who I met in rehab. I am really looking forward to it."

When Prince Harry launched the games he congratulated those who had made the British team saying, "These men and women have achieved so much already but being selected for this team is another significant milestone in their life beyond injury."

He said the games were not just for those taking part, but for the 'wider family' and added that the team would not just be competing for themselves but for their 'mates'.

Lance-Corporal Smith was leading his men on a routine foot patrol when he suffered his injuries on October 16, 2010.

He walked in front of the patrol, sweeping the ground with his Vallon detecting machine in a bid to locate roadside bombs.

"We were out on our normal daily exercises, and it was just a case of the equipment not being able to pick up the metal," he says.

It later emerged that the device had been cunningly made with a low metal content, reducing the chance of detection.

Disregarding their own safety, his comrades dashed to give him medical treatment, applying tourniquets to his damaged legs to stop the bleeding.

"They saved my life," he says.

"If they hadn't done what they did, I wouldn't be here."

The soldier was evacuated from the battlefield, treated at the British field hospital at Camp Bastion, before being flown back to Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital, which has its own special military wing.

Five weeks later, Clive was beginning the gruelling recovery process which now enables him to walk on two artificial legs.

He first went to Afghanistan in 2008 and it was on his return that he decided to become a bomb disposal expert.

He went back to duty in the war-torn country in early October 2010 with the 33 Engineer Regiment and it was just a few days later that he lost his legs in the bomb blast.

He was chosen as the face of the 2012 Poppy Appeal, and earlier this year Cannock Chase District Council named a road after him. In November last year, the keen Wolves fan also achieved his lifelong dream of walking out onto the pitch at Molineux, before the game against Stevenage.

During his long period of rehabilitation, he says he has had plenty of time to think about what has happened to him.

"I have had a lot of time to reflect on what's happened," he says thoughtfully.

"I had just been promoted, and I wanted to lead from the front.

"I think I would have felt a lot worse if it had been somebody else who had gone in front of me.""

And he says that despite the life-changing injuries, Clive says he has no regrets about his chosen career in the forces.

"I have had 10 wonderful years, and I wouldn't have changed it at all," he says.