AN ACCRINGTON soldier who was shot by a sniper in Afghanistan was due to meet the Prime Minister today.

Sapper Sam Taylor, who was shot in the back in October 2010, is presenting the first poppy of the appeal campaign to David Cameron at Downing Street.

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The 28-year-old headed to London with 15 other beneficiaries of the Royal British Legion, who helped him win a higher payout after his debilitating injuries.

Sam, who joined the Army in 2007, was ultimately lucky to survive the attack – if the bullet was just one centimetre to the right it would have severed his spinal cord and paralysed him.

And had the bullet been less than one centimetre to the left, it would have ruptured his carotid artery and he would have died.

He fractured his vertebrae and eventually recovered but not enough to rejoin the 23 Engineer Regiment (Air Assault).

The Legion helped Sam fight for a higher level of compensation from the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency.

He said: “It’s quite exciting to meet the Prime Minister but I am doing this to repay the Legion.

“My shoulder still hurts, it depends on what I’m doing. Funnily enough I tried to go for a run yesterday for the first time since I left the Army and it wasn’t good.

“As I get older, it will get worse and I’ll probably have to wear my arm in a permanent sling when I’m in my 50s or 60s.

“But I have spent the past two years travelling the world – I avoided the cold countries because it gets to my shoulder.

“I went to South East Asia, Sri Lanka, America, through Europe, Poland, Ukraine and it was great .”

The fundraising target in Lancashire is £950,000 which will go towards the Legion’s national target of £41m to continue its vital work delivering practical, through life care and support to the Armed Forces community.

The Royal British Legion’s Director of Fundraising Charles Byrne said: “The Legion’s role remains as contemporary and as vital as it has ever been supporting today’s generation of service personnel, veterans, and their families whether living with an injury or illness, coping with bereavement or finding employment.

“The Legion’s work is entirely dependent on the public’s support – so please wear your poppy with pride, knowing you are helping the Armed Forces community to live on.”