DEAN Owens will never forget dragging his friend’s body out of an armoured vehicle in Afghanistan.

The 23-year-old former soldier is one of hundreds of brave servicemen who have experienced life in the wartorn Helmand province.

In his months in the country, Dean was under constant gunfire and lost nine comrades.

But nothing sticks in his mind more than the death of a close friend corporal “Big Daz” Bonner, 31, while on convoy in armour-protected vehicles.

Dean, who served with the 1st Battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment, said: “I was in the vehicle ahead and we had gone over the mine, but it hadn't gone off.

“Then his vehicle went over and it blew a hole in the bottom. It was an anti-tank mine and he absorbed all of the impact.

“I ran out of the car on to the minefield and pulled him out. There was nothing the medic could do.

“About half an hour before we had been joking. He was a Tottenham fan and I am a Manchester United fan and we were talking about football.

“Thirty minutes later I was dragging his body out of the vehicles. It was hell.”

With the suffering of his pal firmly in his mind, Dean wants to give something back to his former colleagues and is planning to run the London Marathon to raise money for a charity which helps soldiers.

Dean, of Toucan Close, Shoebury, is running for Help for Heroes, a charity which supports wounded service men and women injured in conflict.

He said: “I want to raise money for Help for Heroes because I’ve seen exactly what hardships many soldiers have to go through.

“A lot of my mates are still recovering and it’s a really good cause to support.

“The charity helps everyone that comes back from war, whether suffering from psychological issues or physical injuries”

As he signals his determination to raise cash to help his colleagues, he recalls so many experiences about life in Afghanistan.

He said: “For some reason the Taleban don’t fight at night. But as soon as the morning comes it is fighting for 11 hours.

“Most of the work is in foot patrols and the Taleban will shoot at you and won’t stop until they have been killed. I remember one time I was talking to an interpreter.

“About 20 seconds later a rocket-propelled grenade was fired. It hit a wall, killed the interpreter outright and I walked away unscathed.”

The father-of-one first saw action after being posted to Iraq just months after his 18th birthday.

Duties included patrols and looking for roadside bombs. In that time two soldiers from another battalion were blown up.

He said: “It was tough. The first thing you noticed was the heat and you had to carry around ammunition and body armour for eight hours a day. It weighed probably about 20kgs.

“It was a lot to take in and I had only just turned 18.”

In his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, Dean saw one pal take a rocket-propelled grenade straight in the chest and survive. He said: “It got him in the chest and broke both of his legs. I don’t know how he survived it.”

After leaving the Army in 2007 to start a family, Dean now works as a security officer at Canary Wharf, London.

To sponsor Dean visit his website at www.justgiving.com/deanowens