A Huddersfield mechanic horrendously hurt in a motorbike smash is hoping to have pioneering surgery to give him far more mobility.

Josh Tully suffered severe multiple injuries and his right leg was amputated at the knee after a motorbike he was test-riding hit a lamp-post on Nettleton Road, Dalton, in July 2024.

The 36-year-old spent 12 weeks in hospital and recalls what the surgeons told his family at the time.

“They said it was easier to say what I hadn’t broken rather than what I had,’’ he said. “The good news was that my left arm wasn’t broken!’’

The bad news, though, was that Josh had broken his neck, his back, both legs and his right arm, which was paralysed. He also suffered many other serious injuries.

His helmet probably saved his life as the impact left him with a gash through the helmet and a bruised skull. Some feeling is now starting to return to his arm.

Josh, of Dalton, said: “Around 10 days after the accident the doctors told me I’d suffered severe soft tissue damage to my right leg so it would never function as a leg again and I’d also have to face many years of surgery so I told them to take it off.’’

They did but the amputation through his knee led to complications as the skin flap they used to close the amputation was so badly damaged by the accident the tissue died which led to multiple skin grafts.

This meant the skin over his stump has always been scarred and tight whereas it should be soft and pliable which would make wearing a prosthetic limb more comfortable.

As it is, Josh suffers from severe pain which has potentially put him in line to become a ‘guinea pig’ for the NHS with surgery called osseointegration.

His stump would need to be shortened to above the knee and then a titanium anchor – basically a small rod – will be drilled into the femur bone in the middle of the stump and stick out so the prosthetic leg can clip onto it.

It would mean no more pain for Josh and the state-of-the-art prosthetic means he could bend his knee.

The medical procedure, which has so far not been available on the NHS, will see the titanium anchor fuse into the bone.

Josh said: “As the anchor is attached into the bone it means I will get to feel what the prosthetic is doing and it’s a quick release mechanism to remove the leg. If I get this surgery it will give me a far better range of motion and much improved mobility.’’

Josh has had a meeting at Leeds General Infirmary with the surgeon and others involved in the operation and is waiting to hear if he is a viable candidate.

“It would make my life as close to normal as possible again,’’ he said. “I think I’m a strong contender for the operation as I’m prepared to have the stump shortened and have been 100% determined and positive ever since the accident.

“I’ve always been ahead of my targets when it came to recovery and getting mobile again.

“If it happens it will show to the NHS just what this operation means and what is possible so, hopefully, many others will have that chance in the future. It’s not done on the NHS at the moment so I hope I’m going to be that guinea pig guy.’’

Osseointegration was pioneered by Swedish physician Professor Per-Ingvar Branemark in the 1950s which began with titanium dental implants and his son is now a surgeon who specialises in these operations and will possibly do Josh’s surgery.

Josh says his 34-year-old sister, Paris, has been a magnificent support over the last 20 months since the accident.

Written by ANDY HIRST who runs his own Yorkshire freelance journalism agency AH! PR (https://ah-pr.com/) specialising in press releases, blogging, website content, copywriting and ghost-writing autobiographies.