A soldier who felt let down by his regiment after he was left in constant pain by a freak accident that occurred whilst he was serving in Afghanistan has secured more than £100,000 in compensation from the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The soldier, who served in an elite air assault unit, was in the course of unloading goods vehicles at his base. He walking past the back of a lorry when a heavy roll of road-building fabric was thrown out, hitting him on the head and knocking him unconscious. After two days, he was flown to Camp Bastion where he received physiotherapy and was put on menial tasks. After several weeks, it was decided that he needed an MRI scan and he was then flown back to the UK. It was some months before he had a complete diagnosis, however. As a result of his injuries, he was left suffering from fibromyalgia, a condition which causes chronic widespread pain, and was ultimately discharged from the Army on medical grounds.

Aged 21 at the time, he felt that he had been treated poorly by his regiment and that he had been left to suffer in his barracks for months before receiving appropriate medical treatment. A member of a military family, he was so badly affected by the end of his Army career that he had twice attempted suicide.

MoD lawyers presented covertly-shot video footage to the High Court in an attempt to show that the soldier was not as disabled as he claimed to be. However, the Court found him a credible and straightforward witness whose symptoms were genuine and had been caused by the accident.

The exact amount of his compensation award remains to be calculated, but it is likely to run into six figures.