Prostheticlegmakesmefeel proudtobesomeoneunique
AMPUTEES ARE WALKING BACK TO HAPPINESS Iona, 14, enjoys hockey, dancing and gymnastics despite losing a leg at the age of five. A documentary tells how patients like her are being helped to move on
intensive care for three days as doctors fought to save his life.
Traumatic amputations are rare and 85 per cent of people lose a limb as a result of poor blood circulation or diabetes. Each year in Scotland there are 800 amputations.
It wasn’t until a month after Andy’s accident that doctors found he had also suffered a brain injury.
His mum noticed he had a short attention span, poor concentration and didn’t understand humour and jokes like he did before, having always been full of fun.
Andy worked with occupational therapists for two years to tackle his cognitive problems.
He said: “With all I have been through, it has taken a lot of effort to keep my spirits up and to carry on with everyday life. Every month, there will be a few days when I feel pretty low and unhappy.”
Andy, who lives in Argyll, now takes anti-depressants to help him through the darker moments. He experiences excruciating pain and sometimes an itch in his leg because in his mind he can still “feel” the missing limb.
He said: “If you have an itch but the leg isn’t there, how can you scratch it?”
His partner Jennie, a primary teacher, understands as a congenital condition left her with one leg and no hands.
Day to day, the couple cope well but they struggle with stairs and there are irritations – when they get out of bed to go to the loo, they have to put on their legs first.
But Andy said: “We make a good team. We look out for each other.”
With a passion for extreme sports, he has been back in the saddle off-road cycling.
He has been fitted with a state-ofthe-art bionic leg – only available privately at a cost of around £40,000 – which he hopes will have a dramatic impact on his life and sporting ability.
Andy said: “My whole body will return to the way it was before, when I had two normal legs.”
BBC Alba programme Step by Step also follows the story of bus mechanic John Murphy.
The 60-year-old, from Glasgow, developed diabetes at the age of 21 as a result of stress suffered while serving in the Army in Northern Ireland.
Losing his leg initially devastated him. But in the two months he spent in hospital, John grew gradually more confident that some semblance of normality would return to his life.
He said: “The leg is gone but there are people there to help. It is going to be hard but we will get through it.”
His wife Tricia has been by his side from the start and is determined to tackle this setback in their lives.
She said: “We’ll have dark days but we’ll get through it. You don’t have to have a leg removed to have down days.”
The film shows John taking his first steps with his prosthetic leg and he is overjoyed that he can walk again. He said: “There is plenty of hope that I can leave the crutches behind. I am chuffed to bits.”
Prosthetic legs don’t work out for all and 60 per cent of WestMARC’s patients need to be in a wheelchair.
But getting a prosthetic leg at 78 has given Murdo Morrison, from Falkirk, a new lease of life.
Six months ago, Murdo thought he’d never walk again. He’d been having issues for the past 10 years with his feet, losing his big toe as a result of diabetes, then gradually losing other toes one by one on a yearly basis before having his leg amputated below the knee.
Murdo remembers still feeling the phantom pains in his toes a month or two after his operation.
He said: “When you are healthy, you get up out of your chair and walk across the room without thinking about it. It is something that comes naturally from when you were a small child but now it’s a completely new situation.
“I always have to think, ‘What’s the next thing I’m going to do?’ If you don’t think, you are going to fall.”
But his new leg means Murdo can now walk with two sticks, although he is determined to use only one. He said: “Instead of being bedridden, I am up and about. That’s a wonderful thing.” ● Ceum Air Cheum (Step by Step) is on BBC Alba at
9pm tonight.