A man with type 1 diabetes who recently had his leg amputated has vowed to return to competitive running.
Loyd Durham from Gosport, who developed Charcot foot, a condition often associated with diabetes, asked the NHS for the operation before his leg got any worse.
He only left hospital this week, but Loyd said undergoing the operation was the best thing for him.
The 41-year-old told The News, Portsmouth: “I’m absolutely buzzing after the operation – I haven’t felt this good in years and am feeling positive about the future.
“I see the amputation as a positive thing and I’m now much better than I was before. I’m now enabled not disabled and will be more mobile than I was before. I have no regrets about having the operation at all.”
A blade will need to be fitted to allow Loyd to hit the streets again, and his co-runners have launched a fundraising campaign to help him pay for the £7,000 item.
Loyd’s friend Nick Carter said: “The support we’ve received so far has been amazing with celebrities like Dame Kelly Holmes and Nick Knowles getting involved on Twitter to help out. Getting the blade will help give Loyd a new lease of life.”
Loyd refuses to let his health circumstances stand in the way of him living his life and he said he knew straight away that amputation would be his only option.
“I fell off my bike a couple of years ago and injured my leg which then progressed to Charcot’s disease which meant I lost my mobility.
“From that instant I knew that if I couldn’t use my leg then I wanted to go ahead with the amputation. It took around two years to persuade the NHS to go ahead with it.
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Loyd has set his sights on running the Golden Mile race in Gosport in June. If anyone would like to donate to his cause, visit his Crowdfunding page.

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