Mum, 40, on adapting to life with a bionic hand, exercise and throwing an amputation party
When she realised she would have to remove her hand - paralysed in a car accident two decade earlier - in order to get a new 'bionic' arm, one woman decided to make the best of it
MUM Nicola Wilding, 40, an Accountant, lives in South London with her retired parents Mary, 66, and Robert, 70.
She talks to us about life after surgery and new challenges.
“As I put the bottle of prosecco on ice, my first guest rang the doorbell. Taking a deep breath, I checked my lipstick and smoothed down my new outfit.
"That night, I was throwing a bash none of us would forget – a ‘goodbye hand’ party to celebrate its amputation.
"For nearly 20 years I hadn’t been able to use my right hand. I knew I was lucky to be alive after a horrific car accident in 1999 when I was 21. I was driving on the motorway and my tyre blew out at 70mph. The accident severed nerves in my spinal cord and gave me Bell’s palsy, meaning the right side of my face drooped as though I’d had a stroke. I also couldn’t feel or move my hand. Doctors tried numerous muscle and nerve transplants, but nothing worked.
"As I was a single mum, when I was discharged from hospital my best option was for me and my son Callum, now 22, to move back in with my parents. At first I’d have angry outbursts about being unable to do the simplest tasks, like dressing myself, which my mum had to help me with. I also needed help caring for Callum and, most frustratingly, had to ask him to help me with things like fastening buttons. When I went out, I’d get funny looks, as my hand would hang motionless by my side. In the end I started wearing a sling to avoid questions.