Afghanistan hero Rick Clements who lost both legs to place wreath at Blackpool’s cenotaph

A film crew will record this momentous occasion for a documentary about Rick’s progress which will air on Monday.

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It’s a fitting tribute to a hero who has defied the laws of nature to, not only survive, but live a fulfilling life, despite being ‘cut in half’, as he puts it.

“Remembrance Sunday is the most emotional day of the year for those who have served,” he says. “I’m always deep in thought for the friends that I lost in Afghanistan and all those in the past too. It brings it home the huge amount of sacrifice that has been made over the years in different conflicts.”

On May 27, 2010, while serving as an Infantry Platoon Sergeant in Afghanistan with the 1st Battalion, the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, Rick’s life was devastated when he stepped on a Taliban IED (Improvised Explosive Device). He lost his legs, genitals and much of his right arm in the blast. But instead of being full of recriminations, he overflows with words of praise for the rescue team who took just nine minutes to reach him in a helicopter.

“I owe them my life,” he says. “It was a miracle I even survived or rather a credit to all the medics from on the ground, the ones on the helicopter that picked me up and those back at camp Bastion.”

He woke up three weeks later in hospital to discover the damage the blast had caused. “I got through those dark times with the support of my family and in particular my parents. I have a network of great people who I can call if I need anything,” he says.

Incredibly Rick doesn’t suffer with Post Traumatic Syndrome Disorder. “I don’t know if it will hit me later on in life as it can do,” he says. “Thankfully I’ve been able to crack on with my physical injuries. It seems to affect the people who see the incidents more than the person involved,” he says.

He gradually grew stronger and more independent so was moved to Headley Court, the defence medical rehabilitation centre in Surrey.

“They build up your strength and look at the use of prosthetic limbs. After a year of trying it wasn’t possible to use prosthetics because of how high my amputations were. But I’d achieved many things. I was back driving, swimming and I’d got a lot of my independence back.”

But his soldier’s training spurred him further and with the help of new technology prosthetics, which ensured a tighter fit, operations and extensive physiotherapy on parallel bars at Preston Mobility Rehab Centre, he’s started to walk again with aids. A YouTube video of his first attempts attracted 1.2 million views.

A personal ambition is to be able to walk to his car, drive to a restaurant and go in and enjoy a meal. “To be able to do that without a wheelchair would be really amazing.

“I feel good about my life and future. I know there are still many things I can achieve which is why I started a charity. Now I’m much more mobile and able I felt it was time to give something back to those who have helped us. I want to make sure that the help needed is there for everyone whether it be someone suffering from PTSD or physical injuries or even a member of their family. I got a lot of help from charities who looked after my family and have helped me to get where I am today.”

But despite his stoic attitude and positive outlook, Rick, 35, a former Clitheroe Grammar School pupil who lived in Chatburn, has to put some blame on the trauma for the break-up of his marriage to wife Leanne.

The couple, who met online in 2008, married a year after the blast and Leanne had kept a vigil at his bedside after the accident. But the pressures ultimately took their toll.

“My injuries were a small factor in the break up,” says Rick, who has campaigned for soldiers to give sperm samples prior to working in conflict zones. “It did change our relationship. She became my carer and by the time I got more independent it had changed the whole dynamic of the relationship and the way we looked at each other. We got through the initial time in hospital and thought we could overcome everything together, but maybe we rushed it a little bit. It was a relationship that wasn’t meant to be and it happens to many people. We’ve both moved on with our lives now and I wish her all the best. I’ve gone past it now and I’m looking forward to the future.”

Rick joined up as soon as he left school. He had typed his interests into a careers program and the army came up as the top suggestion.

“That put the seed in my mind. I went to the careers office and never looked back. I absolutely loved the army. It gave me the opportunity to travel the world and see places I’d never have been able to see. I had some amazing times and some bad times too, but those bad times taught me a lot about appreciating what we have in the UK. It grounded me as a person. If this hadn’t happened I would have stayed in the army. I’d just reached sergeant and it was a really big thing for me to make a senior rank.”

Iraq was his first tour and the country and its people made a huge impression on him. “One of the bases we used was Saddam’s palace. I saw beyond the walls surrounding it, the people he was supposedly looking after were living in mud huts and that gave me an idea of what those people had to put up with.”

Despite the injuries he sustained in Afghanistan, Rick does not believe that British troops’ efforts were in vain.

“Putting political agendas aside, we were stopping the Taliban training in those areas and we certainly did that. Our second aim was to try and help the local population by building infrastructures and getting better water and electricity supplies, so I believe that we did make a difference to those people. Most people appreciated that we weren’t over there to cause trouble.”

Rick Rebuilt: A Soldier’s Journey by Forces TV, will be aired on Monday, November 9 (available to view on Sky264, Virgin 277 and Freesat 652) Rick’s charity can be found at http://a-soldiers-journey.co.uk/.