A SOLDIER who lost three limbs in a roadside bomb blast in Afghanistan will join the first disabled team to compete in the gruelling Dakar Rally.

Corporal Tom Neathway, 27, will join three other comrades who all lost their legs in improvised explosive device (IEDs) explosions in Helmand province.

They will also be the first all-British team to enter the gruelling off-road race when they take part in a yet-to-be announced continent in 2013.

Cpl Neathway’s injuries in 2008 were so horrific he was not expected to live, but he recovered and now works as an administrator at RAF Brize Norton, near Carterton.

Cpl Neathway, originally from Worcester, said: “I’ve always known about the Dakar Rally but I never imagined myself to be able to take part in it.

“For the guys getting injured now this will show them what they can do.

“I’m two-and-a-half years down the line and I’ve still got a long way to go, but if they can see me taking part in the Dakar Rally, hopefully they will think, ‘it’s not so bad being injured’.

“When you get injured it’s not the end of your life, it’s just a different route.”

Cpl Neathway, of 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, was serving as a sniper at Kajaki, in northern Helmand, when he lost both legs and an arm when a booby-trapped IED exploded when he was on patrol in July 2008.

Now he will join Lance Bombardier Ben Parkinson, 26, Sergeant Gavin Harvey, 29, and Captain Anthony Harris, 29.

The team will drive two specially-adapted QT Wildcat off-road race cars made by QT Services, of Liskeard, in Cornwall.

Cpl Neathway will travel in the second car, driven by Dave Marsh, managing director of QT Services.

They now have two years to prepare the vehicles and get the necessary rallying experience to qualify for the Motor Sport Association licences which they will need to take part.

The Dakar Rally project has been put together by the charity Project Mobility 4x4, which was set up a year ago to help give injured troops back their independence through using off-road vehicles.

Former Royal Marine and Dakar Rally support team director Alec Savery said: “These troops get their legs taken away from underneath them, quite literally. It can be quite soul-destroying.

“It’s part of their rehabilitation as well. We try not to emphasise the fact that they’re disabled.

“We try to emphasise the fact that they can have their independence.”

The Dakar Rally course originally ran from Paris to Dakar, in Senegal, although the race has been held in South America since 2009. No location has been announced for the 2013 race.

  • For more details or to make a donation to the team, see projectmobility4x4.org