A COURAGEOUS woman who had her leg amputated after it was crushed by a dump truck is to run her first half-marathon on her prosthetic leg.

Lauren Smith was hit by the 16 tonne lorry in Richmond Road, Malvern at about 8am on Friday, February 24, 2012.

The 29-year-old, now a legal secretary in Canary Wharf who lives in Clapham, London, was crossing the road when she was struck, an accident she blames entirely on herself.

She credits the Midlands Air Ambulance with saving her life and will be raising money for them during the 2015 Lloyds Bank Cardiff Half Marathon (13.1 miles) on Sunday, October 4.

She is calling on Malvern Gazette and Worcester News readers to get behind her and help her raise money for the cause.

Not only will she be running on a prosthetic limb but she will also be running with a splint on her arm after she slipped and broke it about a month ago.

At the time of the accident involving the lorry Ms Smith worked as a director's PA at Enigma Business Park in Malvern.

She was walking from Malvern Link railway station to the office having commuted in from Bobblestock in Hereford.

She said of the accident: “I was waiting to cross the road at the junction in Malvern and didn’t wait for the red man to turn green because the road looked clear to the left and right.

“What I hadn’t realised what that traffic was turning left onto that road from behind me, and at the exact moment I went to cross the road a lorry had just turned left into my path, so I stepped into the side of it whilst it was moving and hit my head, fell backwards and then the lorry stopped on my foot. The next thing I remember is crowds shouting for the lorry driver to reverse off my foot.”

She was airlifted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where she spent a month and had four operations.

Ms Smith was on the military ward where she met amputee soldiers who were far worse off than her and whose high spirits inspired her.

She was fitted with the prosthetic leg in May 2012 at West Midlands Rehabilitation Centre in Birmingham.

She had to wait 18 months before she could attempt any physical exercise such as running (to allow the stump to strengthen and heal fully), and it was only in March 2015 that she was finally fitted with a running leg at Bowley Close Rehabilitation centre in Crystal Palace.

She will run as part of a team of four called 'Team 7 and a half legs'. It is the first event of its kind she has ever run.

Ms Smith has been training around London's parks and commons, including in Hyde Park, Richmond Park and on Clapham Common.

Ms Smith said: “It's a lot harder to run on a prosthetic compared to an able-bodied runner as you have to take into consideration your balance, the risk of slipping or being thrown off course by something as small as a pebble (because you can't feel the ground or adjust your ankle to counteract any angle your foot lands at), as well as the constant pounding pressure on the stump itself.

“One of the most annoying problems is rubbing and skin sores, you have to be really careful especially when sweating through exercise, as the smallest blister or abrasion to the stump can be extremely painful considering you are putting your entire body weight through it and can easily lead to infection which of course would deter training.”

Ms Smith said of the medics from the air ambulance who helped her: “They were fantastic, extremely thorough and very reassuring.

“It was a tricky situation right in the middle of a busy junction during rush hour so I had to be taken to a nearby park by road ambulance where they could land a helicopter, then flown to Birmingham QE.

“We actually had some good banter on the way, they helped make light bad situation as we joked about things like how I'd gone to drastic measures to avoid work that day.

"Obviously without them I wouldn’t be here today, which is why I'm doing this to raise money for Midlands Air Ambulance, my way of saying thank you.

“The accident had a huge positive impact on me overall. I am grateful not only to be alive but also that my injuries weren't a lot more serious.

"I was lucky enough to only lose my leg below the knee (above is a lot harder to deal with apparently) and I'm not in a wheelchair for life, or worse.

“So overall I feel grateful every day for how lucky I am as people have been killed by much smaller vehicles.

"Losing a leg also puts life's problems into perspective. I don’t get disheartened or annoyed about little things at all anymore as small problems seem petty in comparison to losing a limb, which I know I have coped with.

“A lot of people commend me on my positive attitude towards my disability and say they couldn’t have coped like I did, but you have to cope.

"There's no choice but to carry on living and making the most of life. I've learnt life can change in an instant and for that reason I am now more determined than ever to enjoy it and life it to the full every single day. "

To sponsor her visit www.justgiving.com/LAUREN-SMITH44