Are you watching Strictly Come Dancing? I love it but, as I wrote in my autobiography Out On a Limb, dance steps are tricky with only one ankle. And I need to be given a leg that fits to be able to take any steps at all. I want ‘out on a limb’ to mean [...]
Harry tells tales of growing up on one leg (and several sets of wheels). Picture the scene: 1963 and a small red trike with yellow wheels hurtles down a steep hill. The little boy’s feet no longer on the pedals fixed to the front wheel. The boy’s mother has begun to run but she’s been [...]
There’s only one leg in legacy “We have become a grandfather”, as Mrs Thatcher nearly said. But, while her legacy for the next generations is well known, what I might or might not pass on to my children and grandchildren has never been entirely certain. I was born in 1959 without a foot and two [...]
You can call me ‘Rusty’ As a boy my doctor at Roehampton shouted me at, “Metal legs and water do not mix”. He claimed I was wasting NHS resources by exposing my leg to a soaking under a charity ducking stool – but that’s another story. And accidents do happen. My cousin had a boat [...]
Author Harry Wade shares his life experiences as an amputee with Able readers. SHORT LEG OR LONG LEG? Short leg or long leg? This is the obvious choice for an amputee’s fielding position in cricket. The Ashes are upon us, bringing cricket onto the front pages and the rugby internationals push the football back as [...]
Author Harry Wade shares his life experiences as an amputee with Able readers. NAKED OR FAKED? How do you feel about your leg or legs? As a boy, I liked my metal one so much that I stuck shiny football stickers to it even though the pink paint peeled off when removed. As a student, [...]
Author Harry Wade shares his life experiences as an amputee with Able readers. LET’S DANCE – NOT! I won’t dance – don’t ask me! My earliest dance movements as a toddler were to nod my head in time to the music; 47 years later this remains, according to my wife Mary, my most attractive form [...]
Author Harry Wade shares his life experiences as an amputee with Able readers. GLENN HODDLE – DON’T YOU JUST LOVE HIM… OR MAYBE NOT? How are you feeling about the World Cup? I know Able magazine is published in Scotland but, for fans south of the border, it’s been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster [...]
Author Harry Wade shares his life experiences as an amputee with Able readers. ‘IS THAT A RIFLE DOWN YOUR TROUSERS?’ I am a serial alarmist at airports. My metal leg always sets off the alarms, prompting a good frisk from the security staff. I actually feel slightly cheated – and a little unsafe – when [...]
Author Harry Wade shares his life experiences as an amputee with Able readers. THE GREAT ESCAPE Am I the only person who has been caught trying to break out of a nurses’ home on one leg? When I was 19 I had a ‘trim’ operation to make my stump a better shape. Just as [...]
