Road to recovery for Military Cross hero

Luke Cole, who won the Military Cross for his bravery during a fire fight in which he was badly injured and two comrades lost their lives, was taken along the legendary Route 66 by a group of patriotic bikers.

The 28-year-old was among a party of 10 wounded soldiers taken on the ride of a lifetime as pillion passengers on Harley Davidson motorcycles. The Electra Glide machine that carried him was ridden by Major Richard Slaney, the officer who sat by his hospital bedside in Camp Bastion.

Mr Cole, invalided out of the army as a result of his injuries and now a married father of two working and living in Wolverhampton, said: "It was an awesome experience. Just having the chance to have a laugh on the bikes and in the pool after we had finished riding was therapeutic. I have not come back a different person or anything like that but it was an important step on my coming to terms with life after the injury."

The party flew to Los Angeles to collect the bikes and then rode to Santa Monica where they started their journey east on Route 66, travelling across the Nevada Desert to Phoenix. They then cut off the famous stretch of road to swing south west to San Diego and Las Vegas.

The US Government was shut down by its budget dispute at the time, meaning they could not visit The Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest National Park, but the American Legion, a team of military veteran riders, took them on a different tour instead. Mr Cole revealed: "It was great meeting Americans who had been wounded. We may come from different countries but we have faced exactly the same situation."

Now he wants to get his own motorcycle licence so that he can return to Route 66 as the rider of the Harley and give another wounded soldier the chance to enjoy the amazing experience.

Mr Cole concluded: "The injuries still affect my life. It will never be fixed but I do not dwell on it. There are a lot worse off than me. If I cannot do something, I just find some way round it.

"I walk with a limp and cannot run, which means I am unable to dash around the garden with the kids.

"I have to wear a brace on my right leg and still have hospital checks ups. I feel it all the time but I can still work and just get on with life. I still think about the incident now and again and not a day goes by when I do not miss the army. That is the worst bit of all, thinking what I would have been doing if I was still a soldier."

Major Slaney, a 50-year-old father of six whose 34-year army service includes three tours of Afghanistan, said: "I have done a lot of things during my time in the army and have been to many places but being with those wounded guys topped the lot.

"Luke is very shy about his achievements and plays down his Military Cross but I made sure everybody knew about it." Mr Cole, who has undergone 13 operations on his wounds, was a

Territorial Army (TA) infantryman who had volunteered to serve with the regular army 2nd Battalion Mercian Regiment (2Mercian) in trouble torn Helmand Province where his unit was ambushed near the Afghan town of Garmsir on their last mission before redeployment in September 2007.

The lead soldier was killed and the second in line was hit in the head by a rocket propelled grenade before Pte Cole was shot in the right leg. He crawled back into the line of fire to tend to an injured comrade and was later hit again while successfully battling to stop the Taliban snatching the body of a dead friend as a 'trophy'. The bullet travelled down his body armour, tore into his hip and exited through his stomach.

third TA soldier in 14 years to be awarded the Military Cross.