I told doc ‘cut my leg off’=20
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Proud … Jim is once again a tough Marine
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CAPTAIN Courage Jim Bonney looked his doctor straight in the eye and ordered= =20
him: =E2=80=9CPlease cut my leg off.=E2=80=9D Super-tough Royal Marine Jim d= ecided to gamble=20 on the amputation after smashing his ankle when he fell down a mountain.=20
And he even threw a party for his Commando comrades a week before the=20 operation to celebrate all the =E2=80=9Cleg-less times=E2=80=9D they had sha= red together.=20
At first, orthopaedic surgeon Mr Patrick Loxdale refused to perform the op=20 and urged Jim to try an ankle fusion.=20
This would have involved putting pins in the joint but would have left him=20 with no movement in his foot and finished his Commando career.=20
So Jim, 26, who has now battled back to full fitness to become Britain=E2= =80=99s=20 first one-legged operational Marine, kept pleading for a BKA =E2=80=94 below= the knee=20 amputation.=20
He recalled: =E2=80=9CMy surgeon wanted me to have the fusion and to see if=20= it would=20 work. He saw a BKA as a last resort.=20
=E2=80=9CBut I was convinced the fusion would not give me the result I wante= d. I=20 argued that I didn=E2=80=99t want to waste another 18 months of my life =E2=
=80=94 and he agreed=20
to the operation.=E2=80=9D=20
The op was booked for December 9, 2002, at Derriford NHS Hospital in=20 Plymouth.=20
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Surgery … in hospital after op he asked for
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Jim, who was injured when he and a comrade plunged 1,000ft down icy Mount=20 Hunter in Alaska, went on: =E2=80=9CI was electing to have my own foot cut o= ff to make my=20 life better =E2=80=94 not really the kind of decision you make on the flip o= f a coin.=E2=80=9D =20
In a show of bravado, Jim decided to bid farewell to his right foot in style= =20 at the Royal Navy=E2=80=99s Commando Training Centre in Lympstone, Devon.=20
He said: =E2=80=9CI held a =E2=80=98wake=E2=80=99 for my foot. We had a bit=20= of a booze-up, I threw=20 my crutches away and I presented the Officers=E2=80=99 Mess with one of my b= oots, with=20 an issue sock and a bone sticking out of the top.=20
=E2=80=9CMounted on it was a plaque engraved with the words =E2=80=98For all= the leg-less=20 times=E2=80=99.=20
>From that point onwards, psychologically, I detached myself from my
>foot.=20
=E2=80=9CA week later, following a rapid and successful operation, I joined=20= the=20 amputee population of the UK raring to get on with the rebuild of my life.= =E2=80=9D=20
Jim threw himself into rehab and rapidly learned to walk again unaided by=20 crutches.=20
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Back to full fitness … Captain Jim=20
goes for a run with his false right leg
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The carbon-fibre leg was manufactured by Icelandic company Ossur and its=20 components assembled by staff at the Exeter Mobility Centre, who provided Ji= m with=20 expert advice.=20
The leg comes in two sections with a socket and suspension system, including= =20 a shock-absorbing module, which is based on similar technology to a mountain= =20 bike fork.=20
Five weeks after the op he began full-time rehabilitation at Lympstone in a=20 specialist unit called Hunter Company.=20
He learned to walk with his artificial limb and eventually progressed to=20 running.=20
Jim said: =E2=80=9CI would spend hours balancing on =E2=80=98wobble boards=
=E2=80=99 and other=20
devices that make you work hard to stand up by being unstable platforms.=20
=E2=80=9CMuch of this was to help retrain my mind to learn where the new foo= t was in=20 relation to my leg and body.=E2=80=9D=20
His rehab was combined with courses at the military rehab centre at Headley=20 Court near Epsom. Jim said: =E2=80=9CI wasn=E2=80=99t treated as an amputee,= but as a soldier=20 with a lower limb injury.=20
=E2=80=9CI saw huge improvements in my ability to balance, walk and run and=20= began to=20 re-evaluate whether I WOULD in fact have to leave the Marines.=20
=E2=80=9CI was rock climbing, back on my mountain bike =E2=80=94 doing the t= hings that I had=20 feared I would never do again.=E2=80=9D=20
Jim went before a board where he was medically downgraded instead of being=20 discharged altogether.=20
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Rehab … Jim exercises with instructor
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The senior Navy doctor told him his dream of returning to being an=20 operational Marine was unrealistic =E2=80=94 but granted him a two-year wind= ow to prove his =E2=80=9C physical robustness=E2=80=9D.=20
Determined Jim said: =E2=80=9CI steadily increased my rehab with the remedia= l=20 instructors. Once I could run a mile I increased it until I was cracking six= -mile=20 runs.=20
=E2=80=9CI began running in boots and had to start all over again because th= ey added=20 so much weight. I broke limbs as fast as they were mended and tested the=20 patience of my prosthetist.=20
=E2=80=9CAs the year progressed I began to tick off the list of criterion a=20= Marine=20 must pass.=20
=E2=80=9CThese included an underwater helicopter escape simulator and a batt= le swim=20 in clothes with a webbing belt and rifle.=E2=80=9D=20
When Jim went back before the board he was upgraded – and is now preparing t= o=20 take charge of a fast boat in a Commando raiding squadron.=20
Yesterday he showed his skills on the assault course in full glare of the=20 world=E2=80=99s media, after his inspirational story was revealed in The Sun= .=20
And he revealed he has taken a gentle ribbing since we publicised his=20 bravery, with Messmates marking his cap hook and cutlery =E2=80=9CCaptain Co= urage=E2=80=9D.=20
Jim said: =E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s what we do in the Marines =E2=80=94 it=E2= =80=99s like being part of a=20 family and we=E2=80=99ve all got a similar sense of humour.=E2=80=9D=20
Lympstone=E2=80=99s CO Lieut Colonel Nick Arding said: =E2=80=9CJim is a ter= rific example.=20 He is fearless.=E2=80=9D=20
The Centre=E2=80=99s Principal Medical Officer, Surgeon Commander Andrew Hug= hes,=20
said: =E2=80=9CWe don=E2=80=99t give up on people.=20
=E2=80=9CIf we break them we fix them and we take great pride in Captain Bon= ney=E2=80=99s=20 return to full operational fitness.=E2=80=9D=20
Marines supremo Major General Jim Dutton, CBE, who led 3 Commando Brigade in= =20 Gulf War Two, said: =E2=80=9CWhat has been achieved is testament to Captain=20= Bonney=E2=80=99s=20 strength of character, the excellence of the Royal Marines=E2=80=99 rehabili= tation=20 system and our family ethos.=E2=80=9D=20
Major General Ken Perkins, The Sun=E2=80=99s military adviser, added: =E2= =80=9CNever during=20 my 40 years as a soldier did I come across such an inspiring example of=20 personal courage.=E2=80=9D=20
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