A 74-YEAR-OLD has completed a three-mile charity bike race, just a year after he could have ‘lost half of his leg’.

Andy Morris said taking the challenge was a way of saying thanks to NHS hospitals across Hampshire, who he could not praise enough after for their responses after he lost all feeling in his left leg.

In 2016, the Shaw Close resident had been training to compete in the George Skeates Stockbridge Fun Run, a footrace or cycling event, until suddenly a serious medial issue arose.

Mr Morris said: “I went shopping the day after Boxing Day and I had a dreadful pain in my left calf.

“It was intense, so I phoned 999. My foot was going cold and I had no feeling in my lower leg.”

He praised the paramedics who responded, saying they were very good.

After being taken to Royal County Hospital in Winchester, he was transferred to Southampton General Hospital to receive treatment.

Mr Morris said: “They told me it was an aneurysm behind my left knee. They did a bypass, which is a bit technical.

“I was impressed by the staff at Southampton and their interest in caring.

“Considering it was in the holiday period, I can’t praise them enough.

“When I was in hospital 20 years ago, it wasn’t good to be honest. The sisters were frightening.

“But now, there’s a happy team of nurses. there was no sense of panic and a great sense of warmth and caring.”

After recovering from the operation, Mr Morris began training again to cycle in the Stockbridge event determined to take part in what would be his seventh appearance.

He said: “George Skeates, who used to be a sidecar racer, had a crash. He suffered a spinal injury and was in a wheelchair thereafter.

“When I was 19 a lorry ran me off the road and I broke my neck, fractured my skull and got gangrene in my leg. But I got over it, and the poor guy in the wheelchair didn’t. So that gave me motivation to do it.”

Although nervous about the level of recovery he made, Mr Morris took part in the charity event last month. He treated himself to a new road bike but felt anxious on the day.

He said: “My goal was to come back and do it in 14 minutes, which I did.

“A day or two afterwards, I had a great sense of achievement and a great sense of relief because, had they not operated the way that they did, I would have lost half of my leg.”

“If my story inspires just one person to get up and do something, whatever it is, then that’s OK.”