This is the brave lad who said a heartbreaking goodbye to his hands just moments before they were amputated.
Luke Mortimer, nine, nearly died from meningitis and lost his arms and legs because of the disease.
Now – after 23 ops – he has learned to walk again on prosthetic limbs and has been given prosthetic hands too.
Dad Adam, a former builder who lives with wife Christine and Luke’s brother Harry, 13, in Skipton, West Yorks, said: “Being able to run around with his friends again now means the world to him.
“It broke our hearts to hear him saying goodbye to his hands but we know that we are very lucky to still have him with us.”
The rugby-mad youngster fell ill two weeks before Christmas 2019, with meningococcal meningitis, the deadliest strain of the disease with a fatality rate of up to 20%.
Adam said: “It was devastating to see him on a life support machine. He’d always been such an active lad. We had to pray that he would survive.
“Because of Covid only Christine was allowed to stay with him at first. It was awful as we needed to be together at such a critical time.”
Luke’s arms and legs turned black from blood poisoning and his only hope was to amputate them.
Adam said: “The doctors wanted to amputate his hands first. They broke the news to us on Christmas Day and we had to tell Luke.
“He was devastated, and at first he refused. But we told him that it was the best chance he’d have of surviving, so eventually he started to accept it.
“He couldn’t open any of his Christmas presents as his hands didn’t work, so he could see that he had to have the surgery.
“A few weeks later, as he was wheeled down to the operating theatre, he waved his hands in the air and said, ‘Thank you hands for everything you have done for me’. It broke our hearts to hear him say that.”
Weeks later doctors had to amputate his legs too. After five months in hospital and 23 operations, Luke came home.
Adam said: “It was amazing to finally have him home with us.
“We thought we may not ever be able to have him prosthetic legs, which he was fitted with in May 2020.
He managed to return to school in September that year.
He was fitted with prosthetic hands in April but the family are raising money to buy him two new bionic Hero Arms, which would give him much more independence.
They cost £13,000 each and are not available on the NHS. And the costs of adapting their home, together with new limbs as he grows, means the family are fundraising as much as they can.
Adam said: “We are so proud of him and how he has coped with all these challenges. Harry has been a massive support to him too and we are proud of how they have both coped with it.
“He was always such a sporty lad and loved running around the park and playing with his friends. And he had just started getting into rugby too.
“To be able to keep up with them all now means the world to him. We are hoping to get him some blades so that he can have much more spring. He’s managing to be able to kick a ball around too, he loves all sports.”
The family are backed by LimbPower, a charity that helps amputees rebuild their lives and holds the yearly LimbPower Junior Games.
Adam said: “Luke has just been to the LimbPower games event and loved joining in with all the sports.
“To see him being able to do the event was so emotional for us as it showed us how far he had come.”
