Disability & Prosthetics
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In Heather's Own words
It’s been over three decades since my accident, and looking back now, I realise that during this period I saw this dark time in my life as a painful but new beginning. A painful beginning that was set to challenge me as nothing else had in my lifetime. It was to become a fascinating journey of self discovery, one that would lead me to discover the benefits of Veganism. I carried out lots of my own research and found that there were very few resources to help amputees, for want of a better phrase, “Get back on their feet”. There was virtually nothing to help their families and friends understand and prepare them for the journey their loved ones would be undertaking.
In August of 1993, Heather was involved in a horrific, life changing accident when she was hit by a police motorcycle, an accident that resulted in broken ribs, a punctured lung, a crushed pelvis, a fractured skull, and the loss of her left leg below the knee. Ironically, had been working with amputees in the then, Yugoslavian war, little did she know that a short trip back to London would lead to her also becoming an amputee.
This really bothered me, I struggled to find the help and resources I needed. All I wanted to do was get back to normal and not let this new-found disability hold me back! My accident on August 8th, 1993, was highly publicised by the media, and I was contacted by many amputees who needed help overcoming their loss of a limb or limbs.
Driven by a natural desire to help, I went out and met with as many fellow amputees as I could, just being able to speak with someone else who understands what you’re going through is priceless. The stories, the laughter, and the optimism we shared were so inspirational. From terrorist atrocities to earthquake disasters, landmine explosions to diabetes and cancer causing limb loss. I listened and counselled as many as possible on the premise that they would then go on to counsel future survivors of limb loss.
A SPECIAL THANK YOU
“The Amputee forum wouldn’t have been possible with out the dedication and support it received from the moderating team. I’d like to thank you all for the time, effort and love you put into the forum: JohnnyV, Higgy, Jane K, Neal and Cherylm. I’d also like to thank Jeff and his team at In Studio who provided the technical expertise and hosting of the forum website.”
After years of counselling so many, I came up with an idea to have a forum. The internet was becoming increasingly popular and created an easier access for people who were at time homebound. In 2006 I founded ‘The Amputee Forum’. It became an established forum supporting amputees and their families. It’s a place for sound advice whenever they need it, from people who really know what it is like to live with limb loss.
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Tips from Heather
Massaging Your Residual Limb
The timing of the fitting of your first artificial limb depends on how quickly your residual limb heals after an amputation. To assist the healing process for you and your family and friends, ask them to massage your residual limb as soon as you can. This helps bring a fresh supply of blood to the area and encourages your limb to fight against any infection. Massage will also help relieve any pain you may have and can help reduce the swelling, in addition to wearing a Juzo compression sock. It will also help to prepare your residual limb for your first fitting of a new prosthetic limb.
Importantly, it will mentally prepare you and your family to feel comfortable with your cute little leg or arm 🙂
Massage can be done with bandages on if necessary. Encourage your loved ones to massage you, it will help you all get used to the fact that the limb is missing, and that it’s not the end of the world.
Don’t be surprised if you start to suffer from phantom pains, this is where your nerve endings are still registering that you have your limb attached, and are trying to find a connection.
It can be very distressing to a new amputee, wanting to scratch your foot, arm, or another part of your body that is not there. When this happens, the best thing is to massage it with pressure. Your nerve endings will then gain the recognition they want, and your phantom pains will subside. I found acupuncture really helped me, as well as homeopathy.
You will also find that the weather plays a big part in how your residual limb responds to daily life. Over the years, many weather conditions have set off a series of random daily dilemmas for me. A switch from hot to cold weather, tropical and damp weather. Cabin altitude when flying, or being near a lot of electrical equipment. You may experience, in the region of your amputation, sudden shooting or stabbing pain. You could have aches, common to arthritis, pain and swelling. The list is quite extensive, but don’t be dismayed, in time, things get better. Just be prepared.
Prosthetist
Heather has worked for many years with Abdo Haidar, a State Registered Prosthetist, specialising in upper and lower limb prosthetics, with over 20 years of NHS and private experience. When Heather started working with Abdo, he was the lead consultant prosthetist and clinical director at The London Prosthetic Centre, based in the first London only private prosthetic facility offering custom made silicone on-site.
Abdo Haidar and Heather became a formidable team, that worked untiringly designing and developing innovative prosthetic limbs. Working closely together for 7 years, Heather and Abdo developed a ski leg, enforced with carbon fibre, that could withstand high speeds, harsh and compact snow conditions.
The two worked diligently on the famous ski leg that enabled Heather to achieve 5 World records, and to enter into the Guinness World Record Books as the Fastest Disabled Woman on Skis, reaching a speed of 166.84 kph.
The team have also worked on the design of a new ski leg that enabled a bone cancer survivor to learn to ski after an amputation. Matthew Short turned to Heather Mills after his amputation, who recommended a visit to The London Prosthetic centre, and, after the initial consultation, the design of Matt’s new leg was designed. The key benefit for Matt was to provide him with the ideal solution, to help him achieve his goals on the slopes and embark on his Paralympic dream.
The most important thing is to find a prosthetist who is qualified, and, most importantly, one who listens. Everyone is different, so communication is vital to get what you want from your limb.
Discipline Diet & Exercise
Try not to be solely dependent on your physiotherapist. He or she may not always be available, so it’s important to be disciplined and do exercises each day at home, in addition to seeing your physiotherapist.
Keeping a healthy and stable body weight is vital. Limb reduction due to sudden weight loss or gain will create socket problems, which may lead to discomfort, blistering, swelling, and milia’s.
After I lost my leg, the infection refused to clear up, and I was facing the possibility of losing my knee. At this point, I was determined to do anything and everything I could to overcome the infection.
A close friend who overcame breast cancer told me about the Hippocrates Institute in the USA. I flew over to see them, and within 3 weeks my infection had healed up, and I kept my knee. This was all due to the fact that Hippocrates had altered my diet radically and placed me on a plant-based diet.
This way of eating was very alien to me. Up until this point, I was a northern lass having my meat and 2 veg a day, polished off with, generally, sticky toffee pudding or chocolate mousse.
Scientific evidence has proven that a healthy plant-based diet can alleviate and prevent many medical conditions, and help fight infection from within. My recovery totally empowered me to spread the word about veganism, so much so that I bought a small Vegan food company a decade later.
VBites, since then, has become an award winning vegan food company, providing alternatives to meat, fish, and cheese.
VBites is now distributing to 24 countries worldwide, and is feeding 1,000’s of people healthy, plant based alternatives everyday.
Holland and Barrett, one of the top leading health food stores in the UK, saw the vision of VBites and incorporated VBites cafes within some of their stores in the UK.
It’s not easy to switch from a diet of meat, dairy, and fish overnight. With this in mind, I wrote a quick guide with VIVA, “Get Healthy with Heather”. This guide provides you with easy alternatives and an idea of how-to introduce plant-based foods into your every day cooking. You can download a free copy of “Get Healthy with Heather” by clicking here.
I’ve also written a cook book, LoveBites available via my vegan online marketplace, Alternative Stores here, that shows you how to replicate an international array of your favourite dishes using vegan ingredients.
Try to eat less junk food and add more fresh fruit and vegetables to your diet. Sugar is a big no-no; it feeds bacteria that can hinder your limb from healing when it has an infection. Use maple syrup or stevia as an alternative, it’s much tastier and healthier.
Of course, diet and exercise always go together. What you fuel your body with, your body will then use that as energy expenditure. So, the solution is very simple. Healthy input, healthy output.
Plus, no exercise means atrophy, the wastage and shrinking of body tissue to the amputated area. Try to get to your ideal weight for your health and stay there.
Educating the Ignorant
When I first lost my limb, people would stare at me. This is usually because they are ignorant as to what has happened to you, and ignorance can breed fear. Talk to them and explain what happened to you. I find a sense of humour is vital. However, with all the awareness we have raised and pushing for a decade to get the Paralympics televised, amputees have become super heroes, so most stares are now in fascination with regard to how cool we robocops are 😉
We all have a role of educating those less knowledgeable than us.
Set yourself goals
Be confident, think positively, and set yourself some goals. They only need to be little ones to start with, i.e. standing up with your new limb on. When you achieve, one, set another. You will be surprised at how quickly you achieve those goals. Remember that it doesn’t matter how often you “fall down”, it’s how often “you get up” that counts.
Take me for example, the hospital psychiatrist told me not to set my goals too high. My first goal was to stand and walk; my dream was to dance as soon as I could, as I was never sure I could. As time evolved my confidence grew and so did my goals! I’m now skiing and have managed to set 5 World Records. One of them being the fastest disabled woman on the planet. Looking back I don’t think the hospital psychiatrist could have ever dreamed I’d be able to achieve anything like this. What a great feeling it was to prove them wrong.
For the non-sporty amputees, set goals of things you dream to achieve, a new-found vigour and appreciation for life, and how few finite minutes we have left should inspire you.
Good Luck, and remember there’s a whole lot of blue sky out there!
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Prosthetic Development
Heather encountered a horrific accident in August 1993 after being run over by a Police motorcycle.
Her injuries were life changing, including a punctured lung, a fractured skull, a broken pelvis, crushed ribs, and the amputation of her left leg below the knee. Following on from that day, Heather has fought and campaigned tirelessly to, not only bring awareness to amputees, but to improve and modernise prosthetic limbs.
Heather has brought awareness by appearing on TV regarding prosthetic limbs, including features on Larry King and the Michael Barrymore Show.
During the Michael Barrymore Show in 1997, Heather removed her prosthetic leg to show Barrymore and the astonished audience just how lifelike the prosthesis was, and to never feel uncomfortable about your disability.
Heather and Bobb Watts from the Dorset Orthopaedic Clinic designed, together, Heather’s dancing leg, that she competed with on ‘ Dancing with the Stars’, and an ice skating leg, which Heather used for ‘Dancing on Ice’.
2007-10
Founded the Amputee Forum
A forum for amputee’s to share advice and to know what it is like to live with limb loss. It has now become one of the most established and active forums supporting amputees and their families.
2006
Patron and Vice President of Limbless Association
The Development of the Heather Mills Cosmesis, in conjunction with Dorset Orthopaedic, gives amputees in America access to Dorset Orthopaedic cosmesis.
The goal of the Heather Mills Cosmesis was to make high-quality cosmesis available to amputees, including those in America, without requiring them to travel to the UK.
2002
Heather became involved with Dorset Orthopaedics, and worked closely with Bobb Watts, head prosthetist, particularly in promoting the distribution of their prostheses.
1993