A TINY trooper who battled back after suffering a broken back has finally enjoyed her passing-out parade.

Shaunna Burdis was left in agony after a 16-stone colleague collapsed on her during an army physical training session.

The former Fearns Community Sports College student snapped a vertebrae in the February 2010 incident, while training to be part of the Royal Military Police force.

Nineteen-year-old Shaunna, who stands at just 5ft 2ins, said: “I was really shocked at first because no-one knew I had broke my back. I just thought I’d pulled a muscle.

“It really hurt at first but then it just felt weird and I thought something was wrong.”

Later she was checked out at a hospital, close to her Portsmouth barracks, and the break was confirmed.

She added: “I had to lie flat on my back for about two weeks while the injury healed, which was really frustrating.”

Folllowing her initial convalescence, Shaunna was then placed in a brace, for a further six weeks, to support her injured back.

Her recuperation included a four-month spell back home in Waterfoot before she was able to resume her training.

Army rehab followed for four months and Shaunna was gradually eased back into her punishing military regime.

“It was quite strange because I felt like a civilian because I had been off for so long but I soon got back into it,” she said.

Now after eventually obtaining her warrant card she is looking forward to a tour of duty in Northern Ireland.

Policing runs in the Burdis family with older brother Lee serving as a constable with Lancashire Constabulary at Burnley.