Soldier who lost hand keen to resume job

The injured soldier, Pte Laura Guerin - who lost her left hand when a mortar exploded prematurely earlier this month - wants …

The injured soldier, Pte Laura Guerin - who lost her left hand when a mortar exploded prematurely earlier this month - wants to serve with peace-keeping forces in Lebanon.Pte Guerin said yesterday she plans to take up the offer to resume her Army career made by the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, as soon as her left arm heals and doctors allow her."The Minster assured me when he visited me in hospital that my job in the Army would be there for me. I want to return to the Army and I want to serve in Lebanon like my dad," she said.Pte Guerin (21), also plans to learn to drive and hopes to learn to swim when given the go ahead by doctors. "I want to do the everyday things that I've neglected to do so far," she said at her family home in Fermoy, Co Cork.She was discharged from hospital just before Christmas and already has had all the stitches removed from the wound. I'm healing well and hopefully I'll be able to get my prosthesis hand in a few weeks. I can't wait to get back to work."Her family have adopted what she believes is the right approach in allowing her to do things for herself, she believes. "They're not following me around trying to do things for me - they see if I can do it and if I'm having difficulty, they help out."