His life changed when a rocket attack left him paralysed from the waist down.

Since then the army officer has raised more than s1million for injured comrades.

Phil was in Iraq with the Royal Military Police when he was seriously hurt in February 2008.

The struggle to regain mobility has been painstakingly hard. But Phil, 37, from London, set himself the task of raising s1million for Help For Heroes, a charity for injured servicemen and women.

He has rowed the Channel, skydived with the Red Devils Freefall Parachute Display Team and waterskied.

His greatest challenge was the London Marathon in April. It took Phil two weeks but each morning the crowds of supporters swelled and donations rose to more than s45,000 a day. Phil raised over s700,000.

He finally smashed his s1million target in June when he climbed a 1,800ft peak in California’s Yosemite National Park.

Phil said: “No matter how difficult it is, I think how lucky I am to be here.”