THE PROUD family of Emma Martin travelled from Lydney to Plymouth to see her presented with a medal for service in Afghanistan.

Emma spent five and a half months on active service as a medical assistant with the Royal Navy – her tour of duty was cut short when she discovered she was pregnant.

The former Whitecross School pupil said: "It's very different work to home.

"You see a lot of scary things in Aftghanistan but you just get on with the job but I had a good tour compared with some and others had a better tour than me,

"It's a big responsibility. If you are in a big location you have others to help you but if you are on patrol you are the only medical person and people are relying on you."

Emma always wanted to work in healthcare and after school and the Forest of Dean College, she went to work at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and the ambulance service before joining the navy three years ago.

She said: "I was looking for another challenge and I've loved being in the navy, it's a very good career."

Emma is expecting her child in May and is due to leave the navy at the end of the year. She is moving from her current home in Yeovil to Chester.

Her mother Debbie, of Beauchamp Meadow, Lydney, said: "We are all very proud of what Emma has achieved."