JAMES Wilkinson has always been a fighter and saw action on three operational tours in Afghanistan. However, his biggest battle hasn’t been in a war zone. James was injured in a bomb blast while on foot patrol in Helmand, but that was only the beginning of a three-year struggle to recovery.

Part of his intensive treatment involved specialist water therapy and that got James thinking. In the army he had been a dog handler, so why not recreate it to help four-legged friends in need of recovery from injury?

Indeed so, and the good news is he has done just that, by opening a canine rehabilitation business from his home at Sherburn-in-Elmet. And centre stage is a hydrotherapy pool.

Better still, James’s partner Rebecca Robinson is a veterinary nurse, so he has all bases covered.

James has overcome more than most would struggle to shoulder. Fortunately he has put adversity into opportunity and says with dogs being an integral part of his life, it’s an ideal way to set him and Rebecca up for the future.

We have great admiration for this young man. It could have been so easy to give up in a fit of despair, but that’s not how fighters do things. We wish James and Rebecca all the luck in the world with their new venture.