A SOUTH Essex soldier has made an incredible recovery after being wounded in Afghanistan by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Private Simon Peacock, 22, from Basildon, still has fragments of shrapnel in his heart and lungs, as a result of the grenade attack by Taleban fighters.

He was serving with the 1st Batallion, the Royal Anglian Regiment, known as the Vikings, in Helmand Province, when the rocket exploded just a metre away from him.

Surgeons who stitched his vital organs back together feared for the worst.

Simon said: "The doctors can't believe how well I've recovered, considering the state of my heart and lungs. I'm back on my feet and can get around pretty well.

"I was in a highly-critical condition and I don't think they expected me to pull through. There can't be many people out there who had shrapnel in their heart and lived to tell the tale.

"There are still bits of shrapnel all over my body and I've lost all feeling in my right hand, where it cut off the nerves. I know I'm incredibly lucky to be here."

Simon is a close friend of Westcliff soldier Matthew Woollard, 18, who lost his leg after stepping on a landmine in Helmand Province.

Private Woollard was injured on May 3 - the day before Simon was hit by a grenade.

Simon's lungs collapsed, but he was kept alive through emergency surgery at the scene, before being flown back to Britain on the same plane as Private Woollard.

He remained in intensive care at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, for ten days before moving to Headley Court military hospital, in Surrey, to recuperate.

He was only recently allowed home.

Simon said: "I normally only feel the shrapnel in my heart when I lean on my left side.

"I can also feel it when I do a bit of exercise.

"It's a bit like a stitch that comes on early, but otherwise I feel really good, considering."

Ministry of Defence spokesman Peter Morton said: "This is good news and a tribute to Simon and to the hard work of all the excellent doctors, medics, and nurses who've treated him.

"The Royal Anglians serving in Afghanistan are a credit to our country."