Somerset amputee former soldier to become pilot

An ex-serviceman who left the army after losing his leg will soon become a commercial airline pilot.

Louis Farrell, from Wincanton in Somerset, has been training with the commercial airline TUI with help from the charity Wings for Warriors.

He has now achieved his commercial licence and will undergo more training before starting flying on 5 March.

"It's been a whirlwind," said Mr Farrell, who was hospitalised for almost four years due to his injury.

Wings for Warriors train wounded, injured or sick service ex-personnel as professional pilots.

The charity introduced Mr Farrell to TUI after putting him through the initial training.

"It has progressed from an offer into a contract that I signed two weeks ago," he told BBC Radio Somerset.

"I honestly did not think I could do it until I met Wings for Warriors."

In 2013, he suffered a serious injury when his leg became trapped while on active duty.

"I was hoping to have a 22-year career in the army.

"The things that I wanted to do in the military, which was to become a pilot, I honestly didn't think I could do," he explained.

The veteran has completed the commercial flying side of his training and "can now take off with very low visibility".

He has "a lot more training", but said the most challenging part was the instrument rating test - which tests pilots on their ability to fly without any external aids, solely with reference to the in-cockpit system.

"It was fun, it truly was good fun," he said.

"It's great at the end to be able to actually go and apply it with an examiner who will basically test every aspect of your ability to fly the aircraft that way.

"It was challenging but very rewarding."

He said during the training he had sometimes questioned whether he would be able to complete it, but his trainers and the Wings For Warriors team "all rally round you to support you".

"It's something you lose when you leave the military - that constant presence of people who support you and they're there for you and they want you to do well."

Mr Farrell said it was "great to be able to say" that he and another beneficiary of the charity would be starting with TUI in March.He said he was going to be flying to "some absolutely fantastic places", adding: "It will be good to go out and see the wider world."

Mr Farrell said the best bit of advice he had received was to "focus on what you are doing now rather as opposed to looking forward".

"It can actually become quite overwhelming if you look at everything you've got to achieve in order to actually get your licence.

"My main goal now is just to get fully qualified and get on the line."

Follow BBC West on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]