Operation brought years of suffering for Major

But he has been severely incapacitated since hip surgery in 2006 when he was given a metal-on-metal implant.

Following a painkilling injection before Christmas, he has been able to get about without a walking stick but has had to come to terms with the end of his sporting life.

Major Cawkwell, who will be 65 in May, served in Aden, Cyprus, Germany and Bosnia during his Army career with the Prince of Wales’s Own Regiment of Yorkshire and is now with the Yorkshire Army Cadet Force, based at Strensall, York.

He captained the Army football team and competed in the 
world orienteering championships, coming ninth, as well as taking part in a range of other activities including acting as a mountain leader in the Lake District.

The life of action took its toll on his body and in November 2006 a surgical team at the Clifton Park NHS Treatment Centre in York carried out a hip replacement.

Since then, he has never been discharged from specialist care.

After “three years of suffering”, he underwent revision surgery but it was only then the surgeon discovered how bad his problems were, finding the DePuy implant had completely failed and was eating away tissue around it.

He has been left permanently affected by the original operation.

“It’s really frustrating when I’ve been exceptionally fit,” he said.

“You naively think everything has been tested but it would appear not be the case.”