AMY Beaumont was heading for a career in ecology and the environment until the day her mother Samantha suffered a devastating stroke.

She said: “I watched my mum’s remarkable rehabilitation with a neuro-physiotherapist and other specialists and realised I had to switch careers and do something in healthcare – to help others.”

Amy, 22, had already been accepted on an ecology course at another university but later declined the offer to pursue her new goal at the University of Brighton.

She applied to five universities to study physiotherapy but was rejected by them all.

“This was a real setback but then a friend Richard Handford who happens to be our family podiatrist suggested I might like podiatry.

“I confess I had reservations about the idea, thinking that podiatry was all about verrucas, but Richard reassured me.

“I shadowed his clinic, looked at two other podiatry clinics and attended a College of Podiatry meeting.

“I soon realised podiatry had so much more scope and I learned about the real impact lower limbs have on daily functions.

Amy was hooked. She studied podiatry and her enthusiasm for the subject grew throughout her three-year course.

Her dedication led to her being nominated to be the representative of the College of Podiatry Student Association and it allowed her to set up a podiatry society at the university, the first in five years.