WHILE the faces of soldiers killed in Britain's conflicts regularly appear on news bulletins, little is heard about the wounded.

Lance Sergeant Nathan Cumberland, from Newark, lost both legs in a bomb blast six weeks into his third tour of duty in Afghanistan.

But he thinks himself fortunate.

"I count myself lucky compared to people I see," says Nathan, 25. "Really, really lucky compared to some of the guys at Headley Court."

DMRC Headley Court, in Surrey, is a rehabilitation centre for injured members of the armed forces.

Nathan went there after spending three weeks at Selly Oak Hospital, in Birmingham, where he made a remarkable recovery.

As the dust and debris cleared in Helmand Province on October 28, Nathan saw his left leg lying several feet away. His right leg was attached by just muscle.

Adrenaline dulled the pain at first, but he was about to start screaming when the Taliban began firing.

Despite his injuries he knew he had to take charge and ordered his eight-man reconnaissance patrol from the 1st Battalion of the Grenadier Guards to take cover and return fire.

They fought their way to safety, taking Nathan with them, and he was airlifted to the Army's Camp Bastion base for emergency surgery.

Nathan is using a wheelchair at the moment, but will return to Headley Court again at the weekend, to learn to use prosthetic limbs. He intends to be walking again when he marries 24-year-old fiancee Rachael Cryer in October.

"I've got my 'legs'," he says of the prosthetic limbs. "I was walking on crutches but I had an operation which has put me back a couple of weeks.

"You go to Headley Court to get back on your feet again – excuse the pun. You have to adjust to your life and your work.

"You go from Selly Oak and you are adjusting to what has happened to you.

"Straight after the accident, the first day, I was like 'right whatever, I will crack on with it', but some people struggle and it takes months. They have mental problems."

Headley Court also helps those with post-traumatic stress disorder.

A report on amputees released in February by the MoD's Defence Analytical Services and Advice showed that 54 UK Service personnel became amputees as a result of injuries sustained in Afghanistan in 2009. The number has steadily increased since UK operations began. From April 1 to December 31, 2006, there were seven, in 2007 there were 12, and in 2008 30.

But Nathan will not let his injuries get in the way of a normal active life, and he has much to look forward to.

He is going scuba diving with his battalion in Thailand, has bought a house in a village outside Newark and he and Rachael will start trying for a baby after they get married.

He will take part in the Newark Half Marathon in August, in aid of the Newark Patriotic Fund and the British Limbless Ex-Servicemen Association.

Basford Hall Miners' Welfare has chosen to raise money for Headley Court this year, and Nathan was special guest at a fund-raising night there which raised around £3,000.

"It has opened my eyes," he says of the event.

"You get a lot of publicity about the deaths, which is understandable, but a lot don't understand about the injured and the disabled.

"I'm just grateful and thankful that there are people out there of all ages that can put on something like this, and it can raise money for wounded soldiers."

caroline.lowbridge@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk