A FORMER soldier from the district who was badly injured in Afghanistan has spoken about his ongoing rehabilitation as he prepares to receive a prosthetic limb.

Michael Clough, of Oakworth, near Keighley, suffered severe injuries to his lower left leg while on duty in Afghanistan. He had to have this limb amputated above the knee on October 22 due to an infection.

He has been training at NRGym, off Worth Way, Keighley, since March of this year, to prepare his body for having a prosthetic limb fitted.

Mr Clough, 33, who was a corporal in 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment before he was medically discharged, said the fact that gym owner Nick Hindle is himself an ex-soldier has been a massive help.

"It's easier to talk to him and he has a knack of knowing how far I'm able to push myself," he said.

"I have been on a lot of medication, so sometimes I come in feeling drowsy, but he understands what condition I'm in."

Mr Clough is due to receive a prosthetic limb in April or May next year, but until then he is having to learn how to compensate for the loss of his leg.

"I do have some trouble sleeping and I have phantom limb pain, where my body thinks my leg is still there," he said.

"But I go to a rehabilitation facility in Preston, the Ministry of Defence has a welfare section for veterans and there is a charity for limbless veterans called Blesma which helps with welfare or anxiety issues. They've now got the support network right."

He attended NRGym again last Thursday for his first workout since the amputation.

He said he intended to resume training at the gym in Greengate Road two to three times a week, though hopes to be able to increase this to four times a week.

Mr Hindle, who was an army physical training instructor, said: "This is all a bit of a learning curve for me because it's my first experience of this kind of rehabilitation.

"Me and Michael do have the same sense of dark humour that you get in the armed forces and other uniformed services. I don't let him use the lift to get up to the gym – he has to come up the stairs on his crutches! There's no fluffiness or frills to my approach – we just crack on.

"He is able to use most of the equipment we have here, and what stands out to me is how upbeat he is about everything.

"It's about getting him used to having this disability, and enabling him to carry on with life as normally as possible."