BRAVE MAX: THE DAY I LOST MY LEG
IN HIS OWN WORDS, INSPIRING BOY, 10, DESCRIBES ‘CRAZY ACCIDENT’ THAT CHANGED HIS LIFE
IT is six months since Max Clark lost his leg in a horror crash, and he has now spoken about that fateful day for the first time.
The ten-year-old had to have his leg amputated below the knee after being hit by a motorbike on Bank Holiday Monday in Rosmead Park, near Southcoates Lane, east Hull on May 25.
Max has now written his own newspaper report of what happened to him that day when he was just nine years old, after pupils at his school were asked to write an article.
In his own words, under the headline, “Nine-year-old boy loses leg in crazy accident”, he wrote: “Max was with his family in a Hull park when he was hit by a motorbike.
“It was a bright, sunny bank holiday with me and my friends. I got on the climbing frame and played and played and played when I saw my sister Molly doing her dance comp practice so I went over to see her.
“I turned around to see Dad jumping on the stools so I went over but then a motorbike came round at like infinite speed and hit me as hard as a house swinging at me.
“The next thing I know is that I am lying on the floor, it really hurts like I’m dying. I can see my brother and sister getting in the car where it was parked so they couldn’t see me in pain.
“It was hard, my mum was crying, my dad was covering me up with a blanket trying to not let me see it, so I don’t see it.
“My mum called the ambulance and they were on the way but I was in pain, I wanted them here now. It hurts.
“Finally I saw them coming in the drive and came on the grass next to me.
“They pulled out a bed and tried to get me on it, it really hurt at that time but I got in it and they put my detached foot in a plastic bag.
“The bed got pulled in the ambulance and we set off.
“It was a bumpy ride. I was very tired for some reason and I nearly fell asleep but I didn’t.
“We finally arrived at the big buildings, it was the hospital. I could hear the loud sirens in my ear.
“The bed was moving and rocking to each side of the ambulance, we are pulling in now.
“They stopped and pulled the bed out, we went into a room with lots of buttons, with lots of beeping sounds and with a lot of doctors surrounding me.
“I woke up. I’m alive I couldn’t see my parents, so I tried to talk, but I had a breathing mask on.
“The curtain moved and I could see my parents standing there looking sad with their eyes looking to the ground.
“They ran over to me in a good mood with a big hug, it was nice.”
Max M has h come so far f since i that th td day. Less than two weeks later, he was already returning to life as a gymnast by spinning on his bars at home, and bouncing on the trampoline.
Max’s mum Kirsty said in some ways it feels as if Max has always been this way, and says she’s found it therapeutic to write a blog, called Maxpower, which charts his progress.
She said: “We are so proud of Max and how well he has handled the last six months. He has bounced back very quickly.
“I remember the day he first got his first prosthetic leg in June and I kind of expected him to just put it on and walk again, that was obviously not the case.
“I asked the staff ‘how long, when will, he ever’, they don’t like giving timescales or making promises.
“At the time it felt like such a long t time before he walked, never mind anything else, but now, looking back, it’s flown by and in some ways it feels like he’s always been this way.
“I never let myself think about the actual day as even on the worst day it’s a million times better than that. But I I’m happy with where we are now.
“Max loves his blade, he’s back to his normal bouncy self. This wouldn’t be the case if we weren’t surrounded by a huge team of people who have all played a part in getting where we are today.
“Hannah and Jess at the limb clinic who put up with how picky he is with the sockets and always make sure they get it just right for him. Flex Health, who played on his competitive streak, set him challenges to make him want to work harder and most of the time he’s having too much fun to realise.
“For me, blogging his progress helps and reading comments from the public, who are always so supportive.”
Cawkwell, 24, of Cambridge Grove in east Hull, was riding an off-road motorbike on May 25, when he collided with Max, who had been enjoying his first day out at the park with his family since lockdown began.