Mark Harding is a hero.

He has raised tens of thousands of pounds, set up his own charity and refused to give in when he was shot through the neck while serving in Afghanistan.

He has defied all the odds, refused to accept that he would never be able to walk or live independently again and despite all these, he rates one of his proudest moment as when he met the Queen - followed by a five-minute chat with the Prince of Wales, now King Charles III.

He was one of three wounded soldiers to meet the Queen in Windsor Palace.

"She was so beautiful and elegant, the way she stood and listened to what you were saying.

"I told her I was in the Duke of Lancaster Regiment and she responded with,'Ooh! That's my regiment.'

"She is Colonel in Chief."

Mark has also met King Charles III and said he was one of the nicest people he had come across.

"He has been through a lot. I think he will make a great king."

'Been through a lot' could also apply to Mark himself.

After he was shot in 2010 he was told he would be paralysed from the neck down.

"Two of my friends were killed around the same time. I gave myself a week of self pity and then got on with it."

Getting on with it has meant climbing Scafell Pike, sky diving, doing the Coast to Coast, qualifying for the Paralympic kayak team and being the only disabled man in a Dragon boat team that has performed well in races across the world.

He has raised money for an individual child suffering from Stage 4 cancer and helped the homeless through support of Whitehaven's Calderwood House.

He has been recognised for the work he has done, including making the regional finals of the Britain's Got Pride Awards, one of 17 finalists from 2,000 nominees.

He is driven, though, not by the awards but by his determination not to let his own injuries let him down but to strive to make other people happy and, through his new charity the Project Belief Foundation - a charity that will support others through their darkest times as he did on his own.