Britain's most injured soldier Ben Parkinson aims to walk unaided for Queen's baton relay

• Video report by Sarah Clark

An ex-soldier known as the country's most injured surviving serviceman says he is aiming to walk unaided to take part in the Queen's Baton Relay.

Ben Parkinson, from Doncaster, lost both his legs in a landmine explosion in Afghanistan.

But he is now in training to carry the baton – en route to Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games – when it travels through Yorkshire on 12 July.

"It's given me a new challenge – I want to walk with no crutches," he said. "I want to do it because everyone nominated me. I need to make them proud."

A former paratrooper Ben, 38, suffered 37 separate injuries, including a broken spine and brain damage, when his vehicle was blown up in 2006.

But he defied doctors' expectations by learning to walk and talk again. He has become a veterans' campaigner, regularly raising money for armed forces charities.

In 2012 Ben was supported as he walked on prosthetic legs to carry the torch for the London Olympics, but he now hopes to be able to go one better.

He said: "I just keep trying. I don't have any goals, anything to live up to. The Army said I would never talk or walk again and I'm doing both of them – anything else is a bonus."

Andrew Dernie, Ben's stepfather, said: "We're extremely proud. None [more] than when he carried the torch. [But] if we can get him to do [the baton relay] as we're trying to get him to do it, it will be even better than last time."

Ben's latest challenge comes after he fulfilled an ambition – and what his family called his "toughest" test – to swim with sharks in the Bahamas.

Mr Dernie said: "There were up to 30 sharks swimming around. It's probably the hardest thing he's done, because you're going down in the water at pressure. You have to breathe, you have to think about what you're doing and it's incredible – nothing fazes Ben and I think it's the challenges that have got him to overcome the injuries."

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