GUTS are defined, aptly enough, in the Oxford English Dictionary as: ‘personal courage and determination; perseverance’.

But perhaps a simpler, more punchy definition would be: Tom Neathway. Corporal Neathway is the paratrooper who, in 2008, while on a tour of duty in Afghanistan lost three limbs in a bomb blast.

His injuries were so horrific he was not expected to live. Yet he did, and now works as an administrator at RAF Brize Norton.

That in itself is extraordinary, but now the 27-year-old says he could be back in Afghanistan by January. Indeed, he wants to go back.

“I am still trying to go over,” he says with typical modesty, as if this were the most natural wish in the world.

This time, instead of looking up words like ‘plucky’ and ‘gritty’ and ‘hardy’ – all of which are entirely appropriate – just search for one: ‘Inspirational’, a word that fits Cpl Neathway like a glove.

While we all moan about the minutiae of everyday life – our job, the neighbours, that sniffle – Cpl Neathway has accepted, face on, what life has dealt him and like all true heroes, decided to get on, quietly and without drama, with the vital business of living. Puts the rest of us to shame doesn’t it?