Bionic leg helps walker take to the hills again

Published on Tuesday 10 February 2009 08:45

JERRY TRACEY never thought he would have a spring in his step again.

The 51-year-old had just fallen in love with hillwalking when a horrific motorcycling accident robbed him of his new hobby.

But two years after the crash which led to his lower right leg being amputated, he is preparing to take to the hills again after being fitted with a pioneering artificial limb.

He has become the first person in the Lothians to be fitted with an Epirus foot – which allows the user to walk up and down steep slopes and move more quickly.

To celebrate his new-found mobility, the West Lothian man has booked a trip to walk the Great Wall of China with his wife Denise and hopes to be able to join her on hillwalking expeditions during this year.

The computer testing analyst – who has been unable to work since the accident – said: "My wife is very keen on hillwalking, but for quite a while I just didn't get it. I would go along, but it was only a few months before the accident that I started really getting into it and taking pleasure from it."

In 2007, he was attempting an overtaking manoeuvre on the A71 near Dalmahoy when he collided with a lorry.

Despite attempts to save his leg, a bone infection took hold and it had to be amputated below the knee.

It forced the West Calder man, an otherwise fit and healthy individual, to halt his physical pursuits, a position which did not improve much with the fitting of a basic prosthetic foot.

But a trip to the SMART Centre at the Astley Ainslie Hospital in Morningside changed everything, when he was offered the unique multi-axial limb which was invented by US firm Endolite and fitted to a prosthesis developed by experts within NHS Lothian.

"They offered me it and I said yes," he said. "It's really terrific. It gives you a real spring in your step and can adapt to rougher terrain, as well as allowing you to walk up and down hills.

"I'm hoping to get out with my wife this year, perhaps up to the Pentlands, and we've also booked a trip to China, which was supposed to be a celebration of our 20th anniversary, but we had to delay it because of the accident.

"The staff at the Astley Ainslie have been absolutely terrific."

Now that the pioneering limb has been fitted to Mr Tracey successfully, it will be offered to more amputee patients depending on how crucial it is to their lifestyle.

Lorna McMorran, a prosthetist for NHS Lothian, added: "Mr Tracey's determination to continue hill walking is another example of how advanced technological developments can enable patients to live their life fully as they did before their amputation."