A ROYAL Navy medic who helped rescue more than 6,000 migrants from the Mediterranean who were desperately trying to reach Europe has said it was "quite a rewarding job".

Leading medical assistant Roxanne Starsmeare has been shortlisted for the individual Hero Overseas category in The Sun's annual military awards, the Millies.

The 33-year-old, from Taunton, who has been in the Navy for more than 12 years, is currently serving on board HMS Echo and is one of the ship's medical team.

It was in December 2016 that the survey vessel deployed to the Mediterranean, where LMA Starsmeare and the crew performed their life-saving work.

"If we got a distress call we would go and see if we could find one of these migrant vessels, save them, look after them and transfer them to land," she said.

"It is always going to be hard, every single pick-up is going to be hard. But at the same time you have that overwhelming feeling of knowing that you are helping them.

"To know the background and how desperate they are to get themselves in that situation, and then knowing that we're helping them and hopefully making their lives better - it is quite a rewarding job.

"It is quite hard work, but the ship's company are amazing and we all look after each other."

Working off the coasts of Libya, Sicily, Italy and Malta, she said the biggest medical issue they had to deal with was fuel burns.

LMA Starsmeare said this was caused by the migrants sitting in the boat for so long that fuel which had leaked would burn their skin.

She added of the medical conditions: "A few had two or three-day-old gunshot wounds, then we had more serious issues like hypothermia and secondary drowning."

With the largest rescue in one 24-hour period totalling more than 630 people, LMA Starsmeare said that was particularly a "very long day".

She added: "The work we have been doing over the last 18 months to two years, you couldn't do it on your own, it is a whole ship thing."

The Millies awards night will be held on Thursday and celebrate the bravest and best figures from the Royal Navy, Army and the Royal Air Force.