IT has been a long, hard road of recovery for former soldier Jamie Cooper, but yesterday he took one more giant step as he started his first job since leaving the army.

The 22-year-old, who was 18 when he was wounded in Basra, was the youngest soldier to have been injured in Iraq.

While serving with the Royal Green Jackets in 2006, Mr Cooper was hit by two mortar bombs which ripped open his stomach, damaged his left leg and wounded his hands.

The former Kingsfield School pupil had only been in Basra for four weeks when the incident happened.

To add insult to injury, he contracted MRSA twice in NHS hospitals while undergoing treatment.

But yesterday was his first day in his new job – as the logistics manager of Hovabout, the UK's first beach hovercraft ride in Burnham-on-Sea.

Mr Cooper said: "It's great to have a job. I've been applying for jobs for six months and had no luck, then I got this call out of the blue.

"I've piloted the hovercraft a couple of times but you need 20 hours' practice to be a pilot. I'm learning all the time and I'll be maintaining it and helping to sort out new contracts."

Father Philip, a former soldier with the Glosters, said: "I'm a proud father. It gets him away from the hum-drum life of being a disabled soldier. Now he has got a goal. It shows other injured soldiers that there is a life out there and that people are willing to take you on."

The former Evening Post Gold Star Award winner lives with his girlfriend in a flat in Kingswood, bought with some of his compensation for his injuries.

He was initially awarded just £57,000 compensation, but that was later raised to £112,508.

His first day at work was one of the final steps back to normality after the years of getting to grips with his terrible injuries. He underwent three years of painful physiotherapy to help him walk again and use his hands properly.

Jamie said: "It has been quite difficult, but it is life, I suppose.

"You get some days that are bad, but you just have to grit your teeth and crack on.

"This is my first job since leaving the Army and it feels great, to be honest.

"It feels good to get back to normality.

"Work will be a bit slow to start off with, as there probably won't be too many people coming over winter, but at Christmas we have a sled to go over the hovercraft and it will be like Santa's sleigh.

"This job is really important to me. It will help pay the bills, which are always a struggle.

"I get my war pension, but it comes in and goes straight out again, so I don't see much of it.

"I will have some more money coming in, I can start to enjoy life a bit more and finally have some normality.

"Looking for work was a bit frustrating, but I wasn't too fussed because I know what it is like with the recession and I have mates who have found it hard."

Philip added: "It just goes to show what can be done. Yes, he was horrifically injured but he has done his physio and got on with it.

"Others will sit back and draw the curtains and allow themselves to be injured and accept that that is it and there is nothing else.

"But Jamie has shown what you can do if you push yourself and are inspired to get on with things.

"We have encouraged him to get on with life and get up and do something instead of stagnating. This is a very proud day for me. Hopefully, Jamie will be an inspiration to others."

The new tourist attraction won a ringing endorsement from a sand-splattered John Penrose, Minister for Tourism and Heritage yesterday when he stepped out of the machine after being taken quite literally for a spin round the beach.

"It's great, outstanding, I'd recommend it to anyone," said the MP for Weston-Super-Mare.

Hovabout's founder, Paul Barnham, aims to employ former military personnel who have been injured while serving overseas on active duty, and help forces' charity Help for Heroes, which itself has raised millions of pounds to help wounded service personnel.

The first Hovabouts will be based at Burnham-on-Sea but Mr Barnham is aiming to take them to other resorts around the country, along river estuaries, such as the Severn, and even, possibly, Ibiza.

It will also offer free excursions to people linked with Help for Heroes, and through "Dream Scheme" free rides one day a month to schools with special needs and clubs that are not fortunate enough to be able to afford the activity.

It has won support from many organisations, including Burnham Area Rescue Boat, known as BARB, which runs its own 24-hour volunteer rescue hovercraft helping to save lives in an area notorious for treacherous sand and mud.

Also watching on the beach was Regimental Sergeant Major Angie Jones of Queen Alexandra's Royal Nursing Corps. She was head of the in-patient team who dealt with Mr Cooper when he arrived at Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham, from Iraq.

Philip Cooper paid tribute to the work of the RSM and her team. "These guys do a staunch job and put people on the road to recovery. It's not just the wound, it is the psychological side. And then when they are done it is down to the individual. That's where I hope Jamie inspires others," he said.

The Red Devils, the Parachute Regiment's display team, brought the launch to a colourful and dramatic end parachuting from 3,000 feet with red smoke from flares swirling through the sky from their boots, to make perfect beach landings.

In 2007, the year after he was injured, Bristol City fans raised thousands of pounds to fly the Rovers supporter to Cardiff in a helicopter to see his team play.

Leftover money was spent on transporting the rest of Jamie's family and friends to the Millennium Stadium, and funds were also spent on rehabilitation aids for Jamie.

In 2008, Jamie's brother Steve launched a Facebook group to support his campaign for more backing for injured troops returning from war.

In April this year, Mr Cooper was the guest of honour at a night of music held in support of fellow injured servicemen.

He was presented with a bugle from his regiment The Rifles by Pirates manager Paul Trollope, who also read out messages to Jamie from his former comrades.