COVER ‘Our lives changed forever’
When Chris and Denise Arthey lost their legs after a collision with a drunk driver, they chose to start a new chapter inspiring others
Back in 2008, America held the promise of a brand new start for Chris and Denise Arthey. With all three children having left home, Chris’s new posting to the USA, for his work as an engineer, was going to be like a second honeymoon for them. That is until one snap moment truly changed their lives forever. Going down a Texas highway as part of motorcycling holiday, a drunk driver travelling at 80mph suddenly veered across the road and collided with their bike. “We don’t really remember anything about the accident itself. The next I knew about it was three weeks later when I was pulled out of a coma,” says Chris. Both Chris and Denise had sustained life-changing injuries. Denise’s left leg was so badly damaged it was decided early on there was no option but to amputate. As for Chris, he had severe head injuries, no spleen, a broken arm and a leg that was slowly killing him as it became gangrenous. It was touch and go whether he would pull through. But eventually surgeons decided it was best to amputate his left leg. Thankfully, the operation was a success and slowly but surely Chris started to get better and eventually came round. “I have snatches of memory from the coma so when I came to I kind of already knew I’d lost my leg. I was still very shaken and didn’t know exactly what had happened to us. For a long time I was frantically worried I’d caused the accident. It was only weeks later when the final police report came out I realised there was nothing I could have done differently. The drunk driver was apparently three times over the alcohol limit,” says Chris. But the couple were adamant this wasn’t the end for them. “We felt so thankful that we even survived and that helped us come to terms with losing our legs,” says Denise. “We also never felt any bitterness towards the driver who hit us – and we went to meet him a few times – which meant we could focus our energies on recovering rather than feeling angry.” After several weeks in hospital and many more at a rehabilitation centre, Denise and Chris came home. “I found it so strange because last time I’d been at home I had two legs and everything was fine, and now I was in a wheelchair,” says Denise. “One good thing was that we were in the same boat so we could pull together to work out things like how to get in the bath. With our therapy we also became quite competitive with each other which really helped,” says Denise. And soon things got easier as Chris
‘We felt so thankful that we even survived and that helped us come to terms with losing our legs’
and Denise were fitted with prosthetic legs; initially a mechanical leg and later a new high-tech, microprocessing prosthetic that cleverly adapts to the way you walk. “I had a huge bonus,” says Denise, “because my grandfather was an amputee having lost his leg in the trenches of the First World War and he had a prosthesis. As a child I remember thinking it was cool that he lived a normal, productive life.” As for Chris, the change required a bit more coming-to-terms with. “I found it harder because I’d been a marathon runner and just wanted my leg back, so I got quite down about it. What got me through was the faith we both share as we realised the only possible reason we survived the accident was because our assignment wasn’t over, we still had work to do. We just had to figure out what that assignment was and get on with it.” That assignment, they decided, was to use their story to inspire others and they have since given more than 80 talks to groups of all ages, showing there is life after adversity. They also got back to doing the things they love most. For Denise, this meant pursuing her love of teaching by volunteering in two schools. Meanwhile Chris returned to work less than a year after the operation and took a three-year assignment around the Middle East before returning home to the UK. He also rediscovered his passion for endurance sports and today competes in dozens of races, including the London Marathon which he’ll take part in later this month. But Chris’s biggest achievement by far was climbing Kilimanjaro in January 2016. “In the early days after the accident, I read a magazine article about three US military personnel who’d just climbed Kilimanjaro and between the three of them, they had one leg,” says Chris. “I always thought, I wonder if I could do that? So when I turned 60 and had just retired, I decided to do it with our son Tom. To this day I can’t believe we got away with it. It was really hard work but such an achievement.” As for the future, Chris is now studying a Masters in Biomedical Engineering, combining his engineering background with his newfound interest in prosthetics, while the pair of them focus on enjoying every minute of their retirement – and on their second chance at life.
If you’d like to know more about Chris and Denise’s story or arrange for them to speak at an event visit http:// chrisarthey.co.uk