A SOLDIER whose legs were blown off by an Iraqi suicide bomber is going to row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean for charity.

Neil Heritage is part of a four-man team of seriously injured servicemen trying to raise £1 million for the Row2Recovery fund.

They will leave the Canary Islands in December and will work in two-hour shifts on the oars, bound for the Canary Islands.

“I’m almost going beyond where I was before, doing things I didn’t manage when I had legs,” said Neil, who was a Corporal in a Royal Signals Bomb Disposal team.

“Maybe I had rowed before – on a duckpond.”

Neil, 30, from Upton, now works as a PE teacher at Allenbourn School in Wimborne.

He uses artificial bladed running limbs and has advanced prosthetic walking legs, thanks to Help For Heroes.

“The charities have helped me. Putting a lot of money back their way is one of the main draws,” he said.

“The size of the challenge also motivates me.”

He faces 30C heat and a journey that could last 120 days if the conditions are bad.

The dad-of-two will be joined by Lt Will Dixon of The Rifles, who lost a leg in Sangin, Lance Corporal Carl Anstey of The Rifles, whose leg was shortened by a shrapnel wound, and Corporal Daniel Whittingham of the Royal Logistical Corps, who suffered numerous fractures including a broken back when his vehicle went over an IED.

The money will be split between Help For Heroes, ABF the Soldiers’ Charity, and SSAFA. Donations can be made via row2recovery.com.