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A soldier who struggled to come to terms with life after he recovered from terrible injuries he suffered in a roadside bomb blast in Afghanistan has been found dead at home.

Bradley Paul, a hugely-respected private with the 1st Battalion, The Mercian Regiment, was 23 when he died last week.

Now his grieving family and friends want to raise awareness of stress and depression being faced by serving and former military personnel.

The bomb blast in 2012 in Helmand Province severed an artery in his neck and left him with multiple bone fractures.

He was airlifted back to the UK within 48 hours and treated at a specialist military hospital in Birmingham before he was transferred to the Headley Court rehabilitation centre, where he spent more than 12 months battling back to fitness.

Private Paul’s commanding officer said he was making a good recovery but began to live with a ‘silent struggle’ as he fought to come to terms with his ordeal and life-changing injuries.

He was medically discharged from the Army last year.

Police and paramedics were called to his home on Brentwood Avenue in Timperley, Altrincham.

He had a neck wound and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The death is not being treated as suspicious.

Evidence is due to be submitted to a coroner ahead of an inquest.

Family and friends are also speaking out to highlight the work of veterans’ mental health charity Combat Stress, which new figures reveal is currently supporting 740 veterans who served Afghanistan, and raise money for a military funeral.

Captain Chris Middleton, Private Paul’s infantry platoon commander, said: “He was struggling with coming to terms with everything that had happened.

"It was a silent struggle.

“He was a great character in the platoon. He was one of the guys that the other lads looked up to and respected. He was physically and mentally very strong and he had a very good sense of humour.

"As the front man of his patrol everyday, Brad carried the weight of responsibility for lives of his mates on his shoulders every time he stepped out the gate.”

Private Paul was deployed to Afghanistan with the infantry battalion in September 2012, just two months before the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast.

He was a ‘point man’ who led teams of soldiers with a metal detector, checking for deadly hidden devices in the ground planted by the Taliban.

The sudden detonation and subsequent explosion happened at a river crossing after Private Paul had led a team of soldiers to a base to collect supplies. No one else was injured.

A police spokesman confirmed the death at around 5pm last Tuesday.

He said: “Police were called to an address on Brentwood Avenue in Timperley to reports a man had died. Officers attended and found the body of 23-year-old man.

He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

Enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances surrounding this man’s death.”

Stockport Coroner’s Court confirmed it has received a report of the death.

An inquest is due to be opened at a later date.

Combat Stress can be contacted on 0800 138 1619. A Go Fund Me appeal to raise funds for a funeral is available on www.gofundme.com/bradpaul