THE father of a soldier has spoken of the moment he received a phone call from the Army telling him his son had been involved in an explosion.

Terry Hobbs, 51, received the call on September 18, just hours after his 20-year-old son Aaron was blown clear from an armoured vehicle during a routine patrol in Afghanistan.

The Jackal, containing three British soldiers, including Aaron who was just 30 days short of coming home, had driven over an improvised explosive device planted by Taleban insurgents.

Miraculously Aaron survived the blast, but suffered serious and life-changing injuries to his back, hip and knee.

His comrades were not so lucky – Aaron’s best friend, Trooper Andrew Howorth, also 20, of the Queen’s Royal Lancers, died inside the vehicle.

Sergeant Andrew Jones, 35, of the Royal Engineers, was also killed.

The death toll for British military personnel killed on operations in Afghanistan since 2001 now stands at 340.

Mr Hobbs, who works as a traffic police officer at Rayleigh, has been at his son’s bedside, in Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, since he was flown out of base camp two days after the attack.

He said: “When my wife told me it was the Army on the phone, my heart sank into my boots. I just froze. I knew it would be something bad.

“Through my job I’ve had to give bad news to people after traffic accidents, but being on the receiving end is horrible.

“It’s something all parents dread.”

He added: “The fact something might happen to him was always in the back of my mind, but I just tried not to think about it.

“He only had 30 days left to go, so we were thinking about that, planning a party for him.”

The patrol truck was hit by the bomb in the Lashkar Gah district of Helmand Province.

Only in July Aaron, who grew up around Westcliff, told the Echo he was stationed in one of the safest places in the region.

Although he has been under enemy fire on a few occasions, he downplayed it and spoke of his admiration for the Royal Marines and infantry for being stationed in the most dangerous provinces.

As a result of the tragedy, Aaron’s homecoming has been of a very different kind to the one his family imagined.

The talented footballer and qualified referee has undergone numerous operations to put his knee and hip back together and is facing months in a wheelchair and a back brace while doctors try to heal the shattered vertebrae in his lower back.

Doctors say he will probably need a full hip replacement in a couple of years.

But despite his injuries, Mr Hobbs said Aaron, of the Queen’s Royal Lancers, is doing well and looking forward to coming home to his dad’s home in Wickford and his mum Caroline’s house in Southend, before going to Headley Court, Surrey, the military's rehabilitation centre.

Mr Hobbs said: “He is very focused and determined to get better.

“He has set himself the challenge of running a marathon next year to raise money for Help for Heroes, so he’s in a good frame of mind about that.”

He added: “He is such a brave lad. I’ve never heard him complain.”

One of his first visitors at hospital in Birmingham was his nephew, Joshua, who was born in August to Aaron’s sister, Victoria Hobbs, 26.

Mr Hobbs said the arrival of Joshua, and what happened to Aaron, has made them all think about the fragility of life and its peculiarities.

He said: “Joshua was born just before we nearly lost Aaron, and Aaron’s grandfather fell terminally ill a year ago to the day of the attack.

“It’s a strange coincidence as my dad, Robert Hobbs, was a Normandy veteran and died aged 84. He was Aaron’s inspiration for joining up.”

He added: “We realise we are so lucky to have Aaron back with us whereas his friends who were with him on that day are now resting in peace. Our thoughts are with their respective families.”

But although he is mostly upbeat, the former pupil of St Thomas More High School, Westcliff, has mental scars which will take longer to heal.

His dad said: “He still has flash backs – he remembers everything from the moment of the explosion.

“Last week was also a tearful time for him with the funerals of his best friend and sergeant.

“He wanted very much to be there, but he couldn’t be.”