A FORMER Swansea City player whose vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb while he was serving in Afghanistan escaped unharmed.

Lieutenant Stephen Healey, aged 27, played for the Swans before injury ended his career.

He was commanding a convoy from the turret of the lead vehicle in Helmand, Afghanistan, last month, when it hit an improvised explosive device (IED). The soldier, from The 1st Battalion, The Royal Welsh (The Royal Welch Fusiliers), was travelling in a Mastiff armoured vehicle with eight others and an interpreter when it was struck. However, nobody was injured.

Lieutenant Healey said: "The force of the blast was incredible. The pressure wave snapped a couple of the machine guns in half."

The former centre-back served an apprenticeship at Swansea City before signing a two-year contract but, after a succession of injuries, he went to university before joining the Army. A Swansea City spokesman said: "It is great to hear Stephen has made his mark in the Army.

"We were relieved he was okay after the explosion."