I went for a jog and lost my leg
Ella Dove, 26, had to have her leg amputated after a freak running accident. Here she tells how trauma medics saved her life...
Eighteen months ago, I went on a 20-minute jog with my sister Althea. I never imagined it would change my life for ever at 26. I’ve never been much of a runner, but Althea was training for a 10k and I wanted to give her moral support.
It was a Sunday morning and we’d just finished jogging round the canal near my home when I tripped and fell. Suddenly, I felt pain like never before – white hot and nauseating.
We were five minutes from my flat but there was no way I could stand. And neither of us had our phone.
I couldn’t stop screaming. We flagged down a passerby who rang 999.
I was taken to Europe’s busiest trauma unit at the Royal London Hospital where I found out my knee had dislocated, severing an artery and cutting off the blood supply to my foot.
I was taken straight to theatre for a 12 hour operation. The doctors discovered I was suffering from a rare condition called compartment syndrome.
This occurs when pressure builds within muscles, cutting off blood supply and starving nerves of oxygen.
Over the next few days, they tried to restart the blood flow to my injured leg but couldn’t.
It was then they broke the news they’d have to amputate.
DETERMINED
I’m not sure how I felt when I was told I’d lose my leg, because I was on so many painkillers.
But as I was about to be wheeled to surgery, I looked down at my right foot and my painted toenails and realised I’d never see it again.
After the operation in May 2016, I spent weeks in rehab, learning how to walk with a prosthetic leg.
It was a strange experience as most of the other patients were much older, and had lost limbs to conditions like diabetes.
But it helped me realise I’m not alone. I knew I had to make the best of the cards I’d been dealt, and was determined to return to work as a magazine writer.
Meeting fellow amputee Martine Wright, who lost both legs in the 7/7 bombings in 2005, was a real honour.
She went on to become a Paralympic volleyball player, competing for Great Britain at the 2012 games in London.
She was a real inspiration, so funny and down to earth. She’s proof you can still live life to the full after a traumatic injury. Now I have become one of five trauma survivors chosen as ambassadors for the Transform Trauma appeal the Sunday Mirror is running in conjunction with Barts Charity.
I’m joined by Alton Towers amputee Vicky Balch, brain injury victim Campbell Gibb-stuart, car crash survivor Grace Harvard and Marcus Perrineau-daley, paralysed in a motorbike crash. The campaign, also backed
by trauma survivor and rapper Professor Green, aims to raise £1million for vital studies by doctors at Royal London Hospital and Queen Mary University’s Centre for Trauma Sciences.
Thanks to the expert care I’ve had, I’m back at work and living a full life once again.
But I want everyone to have the same chance I’ve had. I even returned to the spot where I was injured in Stratford, East London, on the first anniversary of my fall.
I wondered if it would upset me, but I felt quite calm.
I’ve learned that even the most unexpected, tragic circumstances have their bright side.
I’m lucky to have such great family and friends, including my amazing sister who has been with me every step of the way.
You come to realise what’s truly important, to cherish little moments, and to value those close to you more than ever.