HE LOST his leg in a terrifying bomb blast that ripped through his tank in a troubled area of Afghanistan.
But Lance Corporal Phil Meadows refuses to be beaten, and on Saturday will complete a remarkable recovery.
The 23-year-old will use a prosthetic limb to join 200 of his colleagues for an emotional homecoming parade.
Eight months after the explosion, LCpl Meadows will join the 1st Queen’s Dragoon Guards when they march through the streets of Chester.
The parade celebrates the end of the regiment’s six-month stint in Garmsir, in the notorious Helmand province.
LCpl Meadows has been awarded pride of place and will stand with civic and military dignitaries as the parade passes Chester Cathedral.
LCpl Meadows, who lives in Prenton, Wirral, said: “I’ve had the limb fitted a few months now, and I got on with it straight away.
“I am able to march but I’ve been invited to stand with all the dignitaries for the parade, which I’m really looking forward to.
“Occasions like this are important to us because they show people care.
“We’ve done parades in the past when people have clapped and cheered and shouted ‘thank you’. It shows people support what we do.”
LCpl Meadows was driving a Mastiff armoured vehicle when a homemade bomb exploded underneath it last November.
He endured hours of operations before surgeons revealed they would be unable to save his leg below the knee.
