Rifleman Rozner Boyd today spoke for the first time of his ordeal after spending Christmas and New Year at home with his family.

The 25-year-old, from Hebburn, was just three weeks away from returning home when he was involved in a firefight while on foot patrol in the Nad Ali district of Helmand province.

He said: "We were coming down this track when we were ambushed by the Taliban. As I shouted back to my mate to give me cover so I could move, I got hit in the leg."

Rfn Boyd was crouched down and the bullet pierced his ankle and lodged in his thigh, where it remains after surgery was deemed too risky.

He was treated on the ground by Army medics before being flown by helicopter to Camp Bastion, the main British military base in Afghanistan.

"I knew what was going on," he added. "I felt for the lads because I knew they were carrying on without me under heavy fire."

Rfn Boyd, a Territorial Army (TA) soldier, volunteered for the six-month tour of duty, attached to the 5 Scots regiment, after serving in Iraq twice with the regular Army.

He insists the incident, in early September, has not put him off serving in the TA.

"I wouldn't say I was that unlucky really," he said. "Lying in hospital, I would say I was lucky, because of all the people next to me, I was the best off.

"Everyone lying around me had limbs missing. I couldn't help but be in high spirits. You felt stupid if you ever felt down on yourself."

Rfn Boyd was due to have the bullet removed at Birmingham's Selly Oaks Hospital, after being flown back to the UK, but it was found to be too close to a major artery.

His mum Eileen Lansdell, 52, from South Shields, said: "While it is not causing any bother they are just happy to leave it."

Rfn Boyd is now having physiotherapy so he can return to work as a heating and ventilation engineer in the new year.

• The family have welcomed an increase in the maximum compensation for armed forces personnel injured in service.

The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme provides compensation on a 15-tier scale, according to the seriousness of injuries.

Payments have been doubled for the top six tiers, with the maximum rising from £285,000 to £570,000.

Mrs Lansdell said: "I think they should definitely get more. At the moment, Rozner's job is manual, so he can't go back to work for a long time."