A WOUNDED ex soldier has been selected to represent Great Britain at a track world championships., making his dreams come true.

Former Colchester paratrooper Jaco van Gass will fly to the Netherlands next month for the four day event after being chosen to be part of a ten-person squad.

The former private turned to cycling after he was severely wounded in Afghanistan while out on patrol aged only 23 in May 2011.

He has most recently performed at the Invictus Games, which were last year set up by Prince Harry.

Jaco also has the Rio Paralympic Games in his sights, and Jaco hopes these world championships will springboard him to success.

Jaco has been training with charityHelp for Heroes, which introduced him to cycling following his injury and helps injured and sick soldiers.

Martin Colclough OBE, head of Help for Heroes sports recovery, said: “We’re extremely proud Jaco has been selected onto the Great Britain team to compete at the UCI Para- Cycling Track World Championships.

“Jaco had a fantastic competition at the Newport Para- Cycling International last month.

“Jaco is a fantastic example of what wounded, injured and sick service men and women can do post injury, by using the power of adaptive sport throughout their recovery.

“We are looking forward to following and supporting Jaco on his road to Rio 2016.”

Jaco and his para platoon were engaged by enemy forces in Afghanistan in May 2011 and after an intense 45 minute fire fight, Jaco was hit by a rocket grenade.

He lost the use of his left arm at the elbow, suffered a collapsed left lung and shrapnel wounds to his left side.

The blast also punctured internal organs, caused blast wounds to his upper thigh, and left him with a broken tibia and a fractured knee.

After 11 operations and intense rehab, Jaco recovered.

With Help for Heroes’ support Jaco has had the opportunity to try various sports including skeleton and skiing before finding cycling, a sport he has now taken to a competitive level.

Lead Para-Cycling coach Jon Norfolk said: "As well as our existing Paralympic champions who have made selection, it’s great to welcome some new riders such as Jaco van Gass to the team.

"He showed some promising performances at the recent Newport Para-cycling International and it’s a real testament to the hard work of the coaches on the Para-cycling Development Programme that these riders are now able to represent Great Britain at world level.”

Jaco will compete at the championships from March 26 to 29.