THE father of a soldier who was severely injured in Afghanistan is to get on his bike and pedal for 500 miles to raise funds for an Armed Forces charity.

The Press reported in January how Lance Corporal James Wilkinson was only a minute from death after being blown up by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.

A major artery was severed in the blast, and the 26-year-old dog handler, who grew up with his siblings in Nunburnholme, near Pocklington, and went to Woldgate School, only survived thanks first to speedy work from his comrades to stem the flow of blood and then a swift flight in a Black Hawk helicopter to Camp Bastion, where he underwent emergency surgery. He is now recovering well but might need further surgery on his hip.

Now his father Walter, who still lives in Nunburnholme, is planning to cycle 500 miles in five days in September to raise at least £1,300 for SSAFA (the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association), the UK’s oldest Armed Forces charity which provides practical help and assistance to anyone who is serving or has ever served.

Walter, 67, is a former athlete who repeatedly ran the mile in under four minutes, and competed in the 1966 Commonwealth Games and also the European Championships.

He said he nowadays concentrated on cycling, riding out with the Harrogate Nova Cycling Club and regularly riding 60-plus miles, but he said the challenge of about 100 miles a day for five days would be a tough challenge. “But it is my sort of challenge,” he said.

The cycle ride will go from Edinburgh to London from September 12 to 16, calling at York along the way. Mr Wilkinson said he was now about half way to his fundraising target of £1,300.

• Anyone wanting to sponsor Mr Wilkinson should go to uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/SSAFARIDE2012.