Just over 10 years ago when he was 14 Luke Watson suffered an accident when his go kart left the track and crashed into a barrier. The impact shattered his ankle, fracturing and rotating the talus bone. Major surgery followed and Luke was wheelchair bound for three years. He was unable to go to school and had home tuition for two years leading up to his GCSE exams.
Complications meant the blood supply to Luke’s ankle had been affected causing the foot to drop and the bone to die. More surgery followed where he had a metal cage built around his leg from toes to knee with a number of pins and pistons attached. The pistons had to be turned daily for 6 months to raise the foot back into position which solved the foot problem but as the bone had died his leg had stopped growing, and more surgery was needed. The cage went back on for another 6 months but this time the leg was surgically broken and the pistons turned every day to stretch the leg and stop the bone healing until the leg had reached the correct length. Luke also had a double ankle fusion at the same time in an effort to stop the pain from the ankle joint.
Unfortunately all this was in vain,as he still had problems walking and the pain and high levels of medication were getting too much – seriously effecting Luke’s quality of life.
He took the brave decision to elect for a below-the-knee amputation in 2013.
Rehab was tough but he battled through it and learned to walk with an artificial leg but needed to regain lost confidence and fitness. He tried Crossfit in Nottingham where he lives. Luke says “The Crossfit Nottingham coaches have been fantastic but the problem I face is my prosthetic leg not being compatible with exercise and it is causing problems with joints in my good leg and the knee and hip in my other leg. Unfortunately as good as the NHS have been they haven’t got the funding for a specialist leg.”
Luke needs to raise £8000. and when CrossFit All Out in Aycliffe heard of Luke’s fund on Sunday 25th January they hosted a Throwdown with CrossFit Catterick, Sunderland and Nottingham, raising £200. Terry Anderson, owner of CrossFit All Out said “Luke was inspirational, to see him working hard and overcoming boundaries was uplifiting and the crowd of Crossfitters were fantastic. He achieved his first rope climb that day, something a lot of fully able people aim for! We are very proud to be part of such a supportive community and wish Luke all the best for his future.” The Fund has raised nearly £7000 so far and you can donate to Luke’s fund at www.gofundme.com/LukeWatsonCFN
