A NORTH-East man is among 24 wounded, injured and sick military personnel and veterans in a Help for Heroes team that will take on the Enduroman Arch to Arc challenge.

They will run 87 miles from Marble Arch to Dover, swim the English Channel, then cycle 181 miles to Arc de Triomphe.

Dean Middleton, 30, a former member of the Parachute Regiment from Seaham Harbour, County Durham, suffered a serious brain injury while serving in Afghanistan in 2010 when his armoured vehicle was hit by a Taliban bomb.

He said: "Any of the guys will tell you the most frustrating thing when you're a physically active soldier is having to sit around not doing anything.

"I like to think seeing me and hearing my story gives the lads coming in some hope."

Mr Middleton suffered his injury in the Bowri desert in central Helmand and surgeons had to cut half his skull away. He had been due to attempt selection for the SAS the following year, but was discharged as his problem-solving ability had been affected.

Meanwhile, a relay team of disabled servicewomen is aiming to break a world record for completing the gruelling London to Paris triathlon.

Some competitors are using wheelchairs for the run, from Marble Arch in the capital to the south coast, while others will pedal from Calais to Paris - finishing at the Arc de Triomphe after 300 gruelling miles.

They will also battle currents and weather while swimming the English Channel - leaving from Shakespeare Beach below the white cliffs of Dover - as they restore a sense of purpose to lives changed by traumatic injuries from improvised explosives in Afghanistan or other conditions, organisers the Help for Heroes sports recovery organisation said.

Model Jodie Kidd will support wheelchair user Jen Warren along the route.

Ms Kidd said: "Help for Heroes is an incredible charity, it means a lot to me.

"I have a friend that is an injured serviceman and I have seen how incredible they are as a charity and how much they help.

"It is sending out a message that everyone wants to help, we are here to try and raise as much money as possible.

"Our guys and girls are going out there and looking after us and protecting us - and it is our duty to support and look after any servicemen and women that has had an injury, to have support.

I feel very passionate about that."

Enable team member Mrs Warren cuddled her baby before the start under the shadow of the Marble Arch.

Having worked as a regimental medical officer in Germany, and completing a tour of Afghanistan, she returned home to start professional anaesthetic training when a skiing accident in 2008 resulted in her losing the use of her left leg.

She said: "Disability might define what you can't do, but the only limit on what you can do is your imagination."

A spokeswoman for Help for Heroes said: "Events like Arch to Arc provide our wounded heroes with a purpose and supports self-confidence as part of recovery.

"It is billed as the hardest triathlon in the world."