WAR veteran Andy Reid appeared on ITV's This Morning to talk about how he has paid back the soldier who helped save his life.

Andy, from Rainford, was serving in the army in Afghanistan in July 2009, when he stood on an IED, losing both his legs and his right arm.

Alex Kemp, then 18, who served alongside Andy, dragged him to safety and rushed to his aid with tourniquets and dressings to stem catastrophic bleeding – actions which saved his life.

Andy, now 42, came home and rebuilt his life, and is now happily married to Claire and a dad-of-two as well as active in helping other veterans and amputees.

But the pair kept in touch via social media, so he was shocked when he saw a post saying "really struggling today, having a tough time".

It turns out that Alex's relationships had broken down and he was close to becoming homeless.

Andy told TV viewers how he stepped in and helped turn his friend's life around.

He paid for a train ticket for his friend and brought him to St Helens, where together they rebuilt a future for Alex and got him the help he needed.

He secured Alex a place to stay at Step Forward, a service for veterans, which offered counselling and gave him the skills to get a job and sort his life out.

Speaking to Rylan Clarke and Rochelle Humes on the programme on Friday, January 22, Andy said: "It's fantastic for me to be able to pay back that.

"We're big proud men aren't we, you know we've been in the Armed Forces and we find it difficult to speak about our problems that we are having and I think all men do and that's the most important thing is if you are struggling don't bottle it up inside before it's too late.

"Reach out and ask for help."

Alex added: "Hopefully we can help others as well to speak up and realise there is help out there."