Injured soldiers take on Land Roverfundraising charity

Injured heroes have taken on challenge of a lifetime, according to Help for Heroes.

Brendan Prudom and Curtis Pugh, will be participating in this year's Help for Heroes event ‘The Final Mission’.

The challenge will be taken on by 45 teams each with one 4×4 vehicle as part of a bid to pass the £1 million fundraising milestone for H4H since the inaugural rally in 2010.

Both Prudom and Pugh served together in the Royal Tank Regiment before they got injured.

After receiving help from Help for Heroes, they became members of the Help for Heroes Band of Brother fellowship.

Speaking of his injury, Mr Prudom said: "I’ll be medically discharged on July 24th 2015 because I can’t physically cope with the demands of Army life. Sometimes I struggle to walk – one day while walking in Cardiff Bay with my girlfriend, my legs gave way and a crowd gathered because they thought I was proposing to my girlfriend. All I can do is take each day as it comes and get on with life as best as I can.

"I’m so grateful to Help for Heroes and to Jaguar Land Rover for giving me something to look forward to and for supporting those like me who are having to come to terms with losing the future they had set out for themselves. I’ve done a bit of off-roading before and own a Land Rover, so for me this is the challenge of a lifetime!"

After applying to participate in the ‘The Final Mission’, both Mr Prudom and Mr Pugh were selected to participate. They will be members of the very first team in the rally’s six year history made up entirely of the charity’s beneficiaries.

As part of their preparations for the venture, the pair will be helping to raise funds for the charity, which is supported by Jaguar Land Rover.

They set off on June 13th from North Wiltshire.

Les Ratcliffe, head of Community Relations at Jaguar Land Rover, said that it is the sixth year running that the competition is running.

He said: "Best of luck to our Band of Brothers team, Brendan and Curtis, as they prepare for this challenging event and continue on their journey to recovery. It's been great to meet them to hear about their personal experiences. Today's Land Rover Experience off-road driver training will ensure they get the most out of the Discovery 4's outstanding capabilities during their adventure."

Mr Pugh said the charity enabled him to find a job and pay his bills, which he was unable to do beforehand, due to a back injury he had sustained.

He said his aim was to raise as much money on this rally as possible to ensure soldiers are able to access the help they need to get better.

Mr Pugh also expressed his gratitude to the various companies that have assisted Help for Heroes.

He explained: "Words can’t describe how grateful I am to Help for Heroes for supporting me after being medically discharged. The charity helped me find a job to pay my bills, which took a great deal of stress off my shoulders. It’s also quite unbelievable how big companies pitch in to help wounded soldiers."