A SOLDIER has been suspended following an alleged assault on a teenage recruit which left his eyeball hanging out.

Americk Hayer, 17, claimed two months of racial abuse led up to a violent beating from his corporal on the final day of his basic training at Catterick, North Yorkshire.

He was nearly blinded, but has vowed to take part in his passing out parade on Friday.

It is the latest horror story to emerge from Europe's biggest Army base.

Yesterday, a spokesman for the Army confirmed that a recruit had been admitted to hospital during training and that a non-commissioned officer (NCO) had been suspended from duty.

Mr Hayer, who is of mixed race, said he was kicked and had his head stamped on. He suffered a 5cm gash through his eyelid and his tear duct was pierced.

"It was my final day of basic training. I was putting ten rounds into my gun when the corporal ran over swearing at me and stamped on my head.

"The magazine spike went into my eye. I just felt something huge going into my head," he said.

"I was just screaming, 'My eye, I'm blind!' He grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and kept on kicking me.

"My platoon sergeant grabbed him and dragged him off. I was in agony. It felt like there was a metal pole right through my head."

Mr Hayer has completed seven months training to become a Royal Welch Fusilier.

His mother, Jill Davies, 47, from Swansea, said: "He could have died - and if this does not stop someone else could die."

Last month, an inquiry was launched after video footage emerged of bullying at Catterick. Pictures showed young recruits hooded and forced to assume humiliating poses.

Earlier this year, Lynn Farr, whose son, Private Daniel Farr, died at Catterick in 1997, set up a trust in her son's name.

She and the families of soldiers who died at Deepcut barracks in Surrey, have been fighting for a public inquiry into all non-combat deaths in the Army.

The latest alleged assault happened during a mountain exercise in Cumbria.

Mr Hayer said the racist abuse began when he put up pictures of his darker-skinned brothers, his sister and his Sikh father, by his bed.

Doctors hope he will make a full recovery - but at the moment he has double vision.

Yesterday, an Army spokesman said: "An NCO has been suspended with no prejudice. We take the welfare of our soldiers very seriously, hence the immediacy of the investigation."