A one-legged man who needed a £40,000 bionic limb to walk again got one free after popping into his local for a pint.
David Huckvale, 42, was sipping a beer when he was tapped on the shoulder by Alistair Gibson, one of only 10 doctors in the world who can fit the computer-controlled limb.
The surgeon could see Mr Huckvale was struggling to stand and told him he had a spare leg lying under the desk in his surgery in America - and he could have it for nothing.
He was fitted with a false knee in his teens after a benign tumour was removed. But the knee joint kept breaking and eventually doctors had to amputate his leg above the knee.
The NHS fitted a false leg, but it didn't work properly, so Mr Huckvale, of Earlshilton, Leicestershire, spent most of his time in pain on crutches or in a wheelchair.
But then in 1998 he read about a bionic leg only available in America. The trouble was the limb would cost £40,000 - and after almost 10 years of saving he had just £3,000.
He said: "The NHS did what they could for me but I knew deep down the only way I would walk properly again would be to go to America. I saved like mad and bought a lottery ticket each week and prayed."
Then last September his luck changed when he went down to his local The Sycamore for a drink and met Mr Gibson.
Mr Huckvale said: "I have been blessed by a miracle. I can now play in the garden with my two girls. Alistair has given me my life back."
Scots-born Mr Gibson, who was on holiday visiting relatives, said: "I could see he was really struggling when I saw him in the pub. I thought he was such a nice guy... and I wanted to give something back to society."
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LOLOLOL.
I wonder if it was the HOPS in the beer that did it.
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12/02
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