A 10-year-old boy whose leg was severed off by a speeding motorbike in a horror hit and run has taken on a running challenge for charity – just 10 months after the crash.
Determined Max Clark has run a mile each day to raise funds so other children can have access to physiotherapy which has allowed him to walk and run again.
The little lad had been enjoying a day out in the park with his family on May 25 last year when he was struck by a motorbike at ‘crazy speeds’.
Rider Jerome Cawkwell, 24, was jailed for three years for causing a serious injury by dangerous driving after he struck the boy and sliced his leg off before fleeing the scene.
Max was rushed from Rosmead Park in Hull, East Yorks., to Hull Royal Infirmary where doctors amputated his left leg from the knee down.
The aspiring gymnast was fitted with a prosthetic leg in June that year, and has made a swift recovery to be able to walk, run and jump thanks to the efforts from the team at Flex Health.
Since March 1, the lad has run a mile each day with his mum Kirsty Clark, 32, as well as doing ten press ups, ten squats, and ten sit ups to raise funds for the clinic that helped him recover.
Max, from Hull, East Yorks., said: “I just want to help other children so no one has to struggle. I want to do my part.
“I’m quite fearless. And I’ll do any challenge there is. I love running, even if it’s very tiring.
“It’s been so much fun to do them with mum and to know we are raising money to help people.”
Proud mum Kirsty said it’s still difficult for her to think about the crash but seeing the way Max has reacted to the life-changing ordeal has made her ‘immensely proud’.
She said that, at the time, she worried he may never walk again, but quickly realised he would be alright and ‘persevere through anything’.
The former nursery nurse said: “When I look at Max, he is so positive and you can tell he will persevere through anything.
“I don’t let myself think about that day now, it’s horrible. But looking at him, I’m just immensely proud.
“Max is such a brave lad. It doesn’t worry him. He doesn’t remember having two legs.
“In his dreams he is the way he is now. He’s just getting on with it.
“I’m so proud of him, a lot of people would give up but it’s never crossed his mind to give up.”
The married mum-of-four who shares Mason, nine, Molly, seven and Matilda, three with her husband, Paddy Clark, 32, said Max has been recovering well.
She said she was amazed by how quickly he has been able to regain his strength and is already able to outrun her – after going through two physiotherapy sessions each week since October.
Kirsty said: “He’s doing so much better. When he first had his prosthetic leg on he would limp on it.
“He can now walk, run and jump on both legs.
“On our runs he’s been outrunning me, which is incredible. He outruns me easily but I’m getting better now.
“I’ve loved doing these challenges with Max, I don’t know what we’ll do next but we’ll keep doing things like this.”
Recalling the day of the incident, Kirsty said she was only a few metres away from Max and her then six-year-old daughter Molly witnessed the gruesome scenes.
She said: “We were all so close together and for Molly to see that from so close – she’s going to need some help down the line. It was awful.
“It was like watching a film you can’t turn off but you desperately want to.”
She said that the lad is already focused on the next challenge and hopes to be on the gym mats as soon as lockdown is over.
She added: “But the main thing now for us is that he’s doing better, he’s still our Max, and he’s brilliant.
“He’s an amazing gymnast and he will continue to be.”
You can donate here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/alex-chester-1