This brave soldier, who is missing three limbs, is somehow cycling across the country in support of Style for Soldiers

Cycling for 400 miles and kayaking for 125 miles, in just two weeks, would be an exhausting thing for most people to do.

But imagine doing it with only one arm and no legs.

That, staggeringly, is what injured soldier Andy Reid is doing in honour of six fallen comrades.

The 40-year-old is just over half way through his marathon effort with serving soldier Glen Hughes.

One is ABF The Soldiers’ Charity and the other is Style for Soldiers, which makes bespoke shirts for injured service personnel.

Founder of the latter, shirt maker for the stars, Emma Willis, has her factory in Longsmith Street, Gloucester.

Andy and Glen stopped off in the city to thank staff at the site for their work in support of the charity and for the fact that it paid for Andy’s specially adapted bike to be created for the event.

He lost both of his legs and his right arm in an explosion in Afghanistan in 2009.

Having had to cope with riding from Lancashire to Gloucestershire in often scorching weather this week, he said: “It was hot but we’re both quite fit. When I think about the guys who passed away, that gives me the mental strength to carry on and cope with the physical demands.

“I’ve not questioned why I’m doing it. I’ve dug deep.”

He said he took added inspiration from having received a letter from the mother of one of the dead soldiers, thanking him for keeping her son’s memory alive and showing that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

Andy, who is from St Helen’s in Merseyside, will cycle with Glen from Gloucester to Warminster and then Devizes in Wiltshire before kayaking from there to Westminster.

The event, called the Warrior Challenge and due to end on June 29, also involves team member Andy North running ten marathons in ten days.

Glen served with Andy Reid in Afghanistan and suffered from post traumatic stress disorder.

Kristal Jones, of Emma Willis’ Gloucester factory, said: “They’re such an inspiration. It’s amazing. I don’t know how they managed it in the heat.”