Five years ago Daniel Murphy was a dynamic student with a bright future ahead of him.

But his life could so easily have been left in tatters after an accident which meant his leg had to be amputated.

Major surgery and months of hospital treatment could have brought his dreams of a degree and a future working in the countryside to an end.

But Daniel, whose accident happened ten days before his 21st birthday, refused to give in to despair.

Despite months of hospital treatment he was determined to continue with his degree and has gone on to pursue a career in hunting, refusing to allow his life to be ruined by his injury. Today he is a kennelman and whip for the Hurworth Hunt His courage and determination have been recognised by The Field Magazine in its Young Champion of the Countryside 2006 awards. Daniel was the winner of the 21-30 category and overall reserve champion in the competition. He was praised for his extraordinary strength and courage' and was awarded £1,000.

Surprisingly for someone who has won an accolade as a champion of the countryside Daniel spent his early life in the decidedly suburban area of Guiseley.

But he dreamed of becoming a farmer - inspired, he thinks by his godfather who farmed near Easingwold.

"Farming is something I have always been interested in and I wanted to go into it as a job," he said.

Daniel, who had never ridden before going to university is now learning to ride, and he says: "It is certainly unusual in my job for someone not to have grown up with hunting."

He went to university to study agriculture but says: "As soon as I got there it was spelt out to me that there was no future in livestock farming in this country."

But the college - Imperial College at Wye - had a pack of beagles attached to it and although not from a hunting background, he became involved in that.

"It started off as a bit of a hobby with the beagles and as I got into it I thought that there wasn't much difference between me scraping a living in farming and getting a job in hunting."

But his plans were thrown into turmoil just ten days before his 21st birthday in a devastating accident.

"I was captain of the college shooting team," he said. "We were having a shooting team practice one day and I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was shot through my ankle and airlifted to hospital by air ambulance."

He had to have his leg amputated below the knee - and the surgery spelt the end of his beagling career, which demanded a high level of mobility.

"I have not worked with beagles since," he said. "With beagles there are no horses so on a hunting day you are running round all day - which just wasn't possible any more."

The amputation was a terrible blow for someone with his whole life ahead of him.

"For how I was and how active I was it was devastating - because my whole life as I knew it was coming to an end."

He was in hospital for ten weeks. When he left he was in a wheelchair for three months, and then on crutches for another six to eight months.

But he refused to give in to despair, and was encouraged by people he met who had suffered similar injuries and had gone on to rebuild their lives.

"Part of it was just myself realising that there are people out there who have lost legs like me or who have been in a worse position than me.

During his time at the hospital he met other people who had lost legs, and he said: "I realised that it isn't such a big deal - there is still so much you can do." He was advised to take time off from his course in order to recover, but he was determined to carry on, and graduated with a degree.

"I knew that if I took a year out I would never go back to it. If I lost my momentum for my education it wouldn't have been easy to go back to it at all."

He went on to get a job with the Hurworth Hunt, based in North Yorkshire.

"The hunt that I was working for took a big risk in employing me," he said. "With it being my first job I had no full-time job reference to show, and it is a very physical job."

He is now been in the job for four seasons, and has been learning to ride since he was taken on. And despite the high profile hunting ban he firmly believes the future is secure for his profession.

"In the legislation that was brought in there is not a lot that is actually banned. We now continue to hunt using the exemptions set out under the law. It has not meant much of a difference."

"People have complained that we are exploiting loopholes, which implies that we are bending the law - but the exemptions, and what we can and can't do, are set out in black and white."

He said there were many types of hunting - such as hunting rats and rabbits with dogs - were still allowed. "People just assume that hunting full-stop is banned. But it isn't that clear cut at all. "

"I think the biggest threat to my job was the hunting ban. But now it has come and the wording is not anywhere near as efficient as it could have been. I don't think my job has ever been more secure."

He modestly bats aside the suggestion that his achievements could be inspirational but adds: "I don't see myself as being a force for inspiration but I suppose that in the same way as I have taken inspiration from people in similar circumstances that people will take inspiration from me."