BOY WONDER
Brave amputee Lewis learns to ski
“MUMMY, my leg’s dead, isn’t it?” horror accident that ripped her wee boy’s leg apart, Emily Davidson has nine-year-old Lewis’s words embedded in her mind.
As she lay on the ground cradling him, moments after a lawnmower accident on the family farm in Kirkbean, Dumfries, she could only imagine how life was about to change.
Instead, Emily and everyone connected with the youngster have been inspired by how he’s bounced back.
He is as active as most children his age – probably more so – since having his right leg amputated below the knee. It was destroyed by the lawnmower, which was being pulled by a quad bike which Lewis fell from.
Lewis has bounced back and it’s almost like it never happened.
He’s taken up snowboarding, has learned to ski, is never off his bike and plays football.
“He says never to call him disabled, because he’s just a normal boy,” Emily said.
“We sometimes forget when he has his trousers on that he has the prosthetic.”
Emily and partner Semple Kelly had returned from a family holiday with Lewis during last year’s October school break when the tragedy happened.
“It was a freak thing,” Emily continued.
“He’s been on the quad bike a million times.
“I heard shouting and ran over. I could see straightaway it would need amputated.
“I lay on the ground and pulled him on top of me. Adrenaline kicked in and I didn’t want him to see me upset. Time seemed to stand still.
“He remained conscious and never cried – he said he wasn’t going to cry because he knew it would make me start.”
Local doctors and paramedics arrived and assessed the situation and it was decided he should be airlifted to the Royal Hospital For Children in Glasgow.
“I went with him while Semple followed in the car. We touched down on the roof of the hospital within 25 minutes.
“When Lewis got into the hospital he apologised for being sick. He never panicked, cried or got upset. The staff were amazed.” The youngster went through a long operation that involved nine surgeons working in two theatres. “They had to reconstruct his kneecap. His skin had been ripped off and they needed to find skin, muscle, nerves and arteries, so they took the toes off the amputated foot and used that. The base of his stump is the heel of his foot.
“Surgeons were working on the foot in one theatre, while their colleagues were working on Lewis in another.
“That first night was torture. It was 13 hours before his dad and I got to see him.”
Lewis spent six weeks in hospital and had seven operations, but has never once felt down and has shown an incredible spirit to carry on a normal life.
“He’s a typical farm boy – always dirty and continually starving!” laughed the 40-year-old.
“I have a blue badge for the car but he doesn’t like me using it. He says he can walk fine.
“Every time we go to Glasgow for a hospital appointment or to see the prosthetic company, we take
him to Snow Factor at Braehead and he has a oneon-one skiing lesson. He’s mastered skiing so now he’s moving on to snowboarding.
“He’s never off his mountain bike around the farm, he plays football and he’s gone kayaking, sailing and canoeing with his school.
“We felt we were heading into a new world when this happened and wondered how we would deal with everything.
“Because Lewis has been so positive, it’s helped us, too.
“If his head had gone down, I don’t know how we would have coped.”
The family decided to go away on Friday, the date the accident happened, so they weren’t around the farm on the anniversary.
But Lewis is looking to the future rather than the past.
“He’s already joking that when he’s 18 I’ll need to go round the nightclubs the next morning, looking for his leg,” Emily laughed. “He thinks he can fit a pint of beer into the stump hollow!
“He talks about getting an automatic car when he learns to drive so it’s easier for him.
“I always felt Lewis was older than his years – he’s always been adult-minded.
“If Lewis is dealing with it, then I have no right to moan.
“He’s been incredible.” EMILY and Semple were blown away by the care their son received at the Royal Hospital For Sick Children.
So when they were asked if Lewis would front a fundraising drive for a state-of-the-art surgical microscope, they jumped at the chance.
“We would have been lost without the staff,” Emily said.
“Not only in getting us to the hospital so quickly, but for the way they organised everything, including our stay at Ronald McDonald House. It’s an amazing place.”
The Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity (formerly Yorkhill Children’s Charity) fundraised for the £150,000 microscope, which can be used in a range of procedures and can prevent the need for repeat surgery.
“We raised more than £20,000,” Emily added.
“The farming community rallied round. They took care of the farm while we were in Glasgow with Lewis, and organised raffles and bucket collections. Our friend, Boyd Tunnock, donated £5000.
“I’ll do anything I can to boost the charity’s profile now.”