A Bradford Royal Marine commando chosen to carry the Olympic torch was worried he would not be able to make the relay as he recovered from an operation to repair part of his skull left shattered by a bullet.

Liam Brentley, 26, cheated death on his first tour of Afghanistan in 2010 when he survived a bullet, fired by an insurgent, that missed his helmet, entered his head near his ear and exited through the back of his head.

Marine Brentley, who has recently moved from Bierley to Idle with his wife, two children and two step-children, was chosen to carry the Olympic torch later this month following nominations from his family and friends.

He told the Telegraph & Argus he had a setback in his recovery last year after a titanium plate fitted in March had to be taken out in September after a cyst was discovered growing underneath.

Marine Brentley, who is also undergoing rehabilitation with the Hasler company, in Plymouth, has since been recovering from an operation to insert a second plate in March this year – a procedure which left him fearing he may not be able to play his part in the Olympic torch’s tour of the district.

He said: “I was amazed when I actually got told. I didn’t know I had been nominated.

“There were quite a few people who nominated me, friends and family, but it was the one my mum put forward that got accepted.

“I got a phone call originally from the Olympic torch committee and I thought it was a wind-up because I had not heard anything about it, so I thought it was just one of my mates winding me up.

“I got notified I was going to do it before the operation. When I got notified I didn’t have my titanium plate in so I was a bit wary I wouldn’t be able to do it – I didn’t know if I was going to be ready.”

Marine Brentley, who hopes to become a personal trainer following his rehabilitation, will carry the torch through Batley on Monday, June 25, where he will be joined by Great Britain hammer-thrower Sarah Holt.

His wife Samantha is expecting their third child together.

e-mail: james.rush@telegraphandargus.co.uk Twitter: @jamesrushTandA