The courage of a pensioner who lost both his legs in a freak accident and vowed to walk again has astounded the medical profession. Mr Paddy McSweeney (74), of Well Road, Douglas, Cork, was struck by a 21-foot steel pipe weighing half a tonne which came off the back of a lorry three days before Christmas last year.
Mr McSweeney was setting out with his dog, Brandy, for their regular seven-mile Sunday walk when the accident occurred, at the roundabout outside Douglas Court Shopping Centre.
He recalled the accident. "I got hit from behind and fell to the ground on my face. When I went to get back up I had no power in my legs and I started shouting at people to get an ambulance."
He was taken to hospital where he received 28 pints of blood and his family was informed that his chances of survival were minimal. Mr McSweeney spent hours in the operating theatre and then was sedated from December 22nd until St Stephen's Day.
"I remember Mr Cashman, the orthopaedic specialist, coming in to me when I woke up after five days and I asked him how badly damaged my legs were. He told me he was sorry but he had to amputate both of them.
"It was only then I realised they were gone and I told him that I intended walking again," said Mr McSweeney.
He admitted that the only time he got really upset and emotional about the loss of his legs was while lying in his bed in the hospital and he heard a song with the words, Stand up and fight until the final bell is sounded.
"I then asked myself what I was getting upset for, the final bell had not tolled for me. I was an amateur boxer in my younger days and I never gave up until the last round.
"I decided then I was not going to give up and I stopped feeling sorry for myself."
He was moved after two weeks from Cork University Hospital to the Orthopaedic Hospital, where his remarkable road to recovery astounded everyone.
"I never felt depressed. I do not know the meaning of depression. In the hospital I began by hopping from the bed to the chair, and the nurses used to say it would be great if they could get the fellows with two legs to do the same.
"It was very strange, but I never was in pain from the time I recovered consciousness. I used to get phantom pains and pins and needles in legs and toes that were not there, but I started doing reflexology and that sorted out that problem," he said.
He was fitted with artificial legs and the progress he has made in walking with the aid of this has astonished everyone.
Just two months after the accident, in February, he went to a concert where he was applauded by the audience when it was told of his fight back to health.
The former Telecom worker spoke of the wonderful support and help he receives from his family and his grandchildren.
Nine months after the accident which changed his life so dramatically, he is set up with the help of a High Court settlement to regain his independence.
"I am living with my daughter, but I want to return to my own house once the builders finish the renovation work adapting it for my needs. I intend to start swimming and I am going to get a car so that I can drive myself around.
"I was always fit and I never drank or smoked, something which I believe helped me recover so quickly. I intend to live life to the fullest despite my disability."
Liability in the High Court case, which opened in Cork this week, was admitted by the defendants, Mechanical and Steel Engineering of Kilbarry Enterprise Centre, Co Cork. Miss Justice Laffoy approved the settlement, the amount of which was not disclosed, when told the parties had reached an amicable agreement after Mr McSweeney gave his evidence.