A FORMER Royal Engineers captain from Chiddingfold – severely injured in the line of duty – has joined the Flying for Freedom project to inspire wounded comrades.

Luke Sinnott was a search adviser in Afghanistan as part of the counter Improvised Explosive Device task force.

He was badly wounded in an IED explosion, but saved by the hard work of his team on the ground and surgeons in Bastion.

Mr Sinnott lost both his legs below the knee, and started flying to help his rehabilitation only five months after his injury.

He has since taken part in the 2016 Invictus Games, winning medals in athletics.

He joined a team of wounded, injured and sick servicemen, women and veterans who flew around the UK from July 2-18, visiting Help for Heroes Recovery Centres and providing air experience flights to more than 100 patients in order to inspire their own recovery.

The Flying for Freedom team aims to raise £25,000 to support their project and help fund future WIS pilot training.

En route the team conducted open air, twilight screenings of the film ‘A Wing and a Prayer’, which records the 2,000 miles, nine-day trip round the UK which the team undertook during the summer of 2015 that was the inspiration for this year’s mission.

Ultimately, the team hopes to be the first to fly flexwing microlights to the South Pole. Flying for Freedom is partnered with Help for Heroes and supported by the Endeavour Fund of the Royal Foundation founded by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.

Mr Sinnott said: “I have always been fascinated by flying and after being injured I had assumed I would never get the opportunity.

“Amazingly, I was on my first trial flight only five months after being injured.

“Now, four years on, I am now a qualified micro-light pilot and I have been lucky enough to fly several types of aircraft.

“It’s fantastic we can bring micro-lighting to those WIS Service personnel who geographically, physically or mentally were struggling to make the leap.

“Hopefully they will find the spark in flying I did all those years ago and it will lead them on to bigger and better things.

Luke added: “I am also juggling a sporting career in long jumping.”