A FORMER elite soldier from Stourbridge who has served in Iraq four times says completing the Marathon des Sables was the toughest thing he’s ever done.

Chris Matthews, who was in the army for 12 years and a member of the special forces for the final four years of his military career, took on what’s known as one of the most gruelling races on the planet to help raise funds for Walking With The Wounded.

The 37-year-old, who now works for Apple in London, was among a team of 20 adventurers taking on the 156-mile challenge across the Moroccan Sahara Desert in support of the charity which helps injured servicemen and women to rebuild their lives and return to the work place.

Chris, who spent the last two years training for the arduous event, described the experience as a "truly brutal six days" and said: "It's been called the toughest foot race on earth so a lot of people are drawn to it because of that.

"The one thing you can't prepare for is the heat - it was over 40 degrees. It was like a furnace - it's a heat you can't ever escape.

"The drop out rate was 12 per cent so they lost over 100 people during the event and 20 people by the end of the first day.

"On the fourth day, which is called the long day, I completed over 50 miles in 27 hours - that was definitely the hardest thing I've ever done.

"I received a lot of blisters at the end of the long day which felt like you were walking on broken glass while wearing bear traps on your feet. They're the worst blisters of my life."

Chris, who grew up in Stourbridge and attended Thorns School in Quarry Bank, says he has raised around £3,300 to date, which Apple are set to match fund, and the 20-strong Walking With the Wounded Team has raised a total of around £200,000 which will go towards providing ex-servicemen and women suffering mental health difficulties to access therapeutic support.

Representing the charity were wounded soldiers - Karl Hinett from Tipton, who suffered horrific burns in Iraq, and Duncan Slater, who in 2013 became the first double leg amputee to ski to the South Pole, and Chris said: "It was really inspiring - they're really tough and gave regular bodied guys a run for their money."

But he said the race took its toll on even the most able athletes - adding: "The desert doesn't discriminate. One Australian man who'd run it twice before was flown off the course by helicopter with chest pains on day two. People you didn't expect to lose were dropping like flies. Duncan Slater made it to the end of the long day but had to pull himself off - but he said straight away he'd be back next year."

Anyone wishing to boost Chris's sponsorship further can do so online at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Chris_Matthews