INJURY-stricken Jamie Foster had a promising career in the Army cut short when he fractured the central bone in his foot -15 months later his determination has paid off and he has a second chance.

He was re-enlisted at Burnley Armed Forces Careers Office and started basic training at Lichfield, in Birmingham, on Monday, before joining the Royal Army Medical Corps.

Jamie, 19, of Leeds Road, Nelson, had been in the Army 18 months and was only two weeks off finishing his training when he injured his foot.

He suffered a stress fracture of his metatarsus bone which developed over a long period of training and finally gave way during an exercise on the Yorkshire Moors. A former pupil of Walton High School, Jamie was due to serve with the 1st Battalion, The Queen's Lancashire Regiment, but was forced to leave in April last year.

He said: "I didn't really want to leave the Army in the first place and as soon as I left, I thought I would try something different. I went back and had a look around. "Being a medic won't be as physical as the infantry, but I will still get to go all the places they do. My fitness went down hill a bit at first, because I didn't want to make my foot any worse. But as soon as I thought I was fit enough I started training again."

With help from New Deal advisers at Burnley Job Centre, local Army recruiters and specialists at Cattrick Garrison Hospital, Jamie decided his foot was fully recovered and he was ready to enlist as a combat medic technician.

Army recruiters were impressed by his determination to reach full fitness before selection after spotting him running eight or 10 miles each night through the local streets.

Recruiter Sergeant Andrew Tracey said: "Jamie is a great lad with a good sense of humour. He has had a lot of patience with all the medicals and tests involved."

"He kept himself fit after leaving the Army and deserves all the success in the world. We will miss him in the office. He became such a regular he was almost on the list for the next staff party."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.