'˜If you put your mind to it, you can do anything'

It’s been just two weeks since the inspirational dad-of-two picked up Britain’s first gold of the Invictus Games in America.

But rewind almost six years ago and it would have been hard to imagine the 37-year-old ever achieving such a feat after having his legs blown off while out on patrol Afghanistan.

The date was July 1, 2010. It was a searing hot day as the former Staff Sergeant was hunting for deadly improvised explosives devices – or IEDs.

The deadly home-made bombs were taking a heavy toll on British forces fighting the Taliban – many of those injured were Micky’s friends.

‘It was our job to find the bombs and destroy them,’ says the former Royal Engineer.

‘The problem was, the Afghans out there were bloody good at their job.

‘In 2009 and 2010 we were getting hit pretty badly by IEDs – that’s what the war had turned into.

‘Out of my friends that got injured in Afghan, 80 per cent of them were doing the job I was doing.

‘People would normally tend to stay away from the bombs but not us, our job was to go out and find them.

‘Unfortunately, me and my mates were often the ones that took the hits.’

Micky had helped to explode a number of bombs during his tour in Helmand Province.

‘It was just another day in the office,’ jokes the 37-year-old.

But his ordeal was far from a laughing matter.

For Micky and his family, it was the beginning of a long battle of recovery, one he still feels today.

‘I remember stepping on the pressure plate of an IED and it just exploded,’ he recalls.

‘I instantly lost my left leg and my right leg was mangled. I was bleeding really badly but I was conscious throughout it all.

‘There was a really big chance I was going to bleed out right there and then.

‘That was really the main killer out there, so everyone was really worried about that.

‘I had also partially severed my hand which was hanging off and pumping out blood.’

Amid all the chaos, blood and dirt, Micky’s fellow soldiers were quick to rush to his aid.

‘I had two or three guys just tourniqueting everything all up,’ he says.

‘I remember trying to help them but there was nothing I could do.

‘I was covered in blood, I was a complete mess.’

Micky was flown to Camp Bastion were he was given emergency care before being jetted off to the UK.

Within 24 hours he was in the intensive care unit of Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

‘I was actually in Birmingham before my wife and mum were.’

Micky spent eight weeks in hospital and had 30 operations.

Despite their best efforts, doctors could not save his right leg which was too badly mangled.

But they were able to rescue his right hand much to Micky’s relief.

‘I wasn’t expecting them to save the legs. I didn’t even ask anyone or look when I woke up from the operation to see if they had,’ he admits.