A war hero whose ankle was torn off in a toboggan crash had a prosthetic limb fitted at Headley Court Military Hospital in Epsom yesterday.
After coming back unscathed from six months in Iraq, Captain Bernie Bambury sustained the horrific injury when he completed the famous Cresta Run in St Moritz, Switzerland.
The 32-year-old soldier from the 4th Battalion The Rifles did not realise the limb was missing but thought his ankle was broken.
He tackled the mile of solid ice at an Army tobogganing event in January.
His right foot hit a marker post and the leg, severed below the knee, was recovered hundreds of yards up the course after he crossed the finish.
Swiss microsurgeons reattached it but after nine operations they told Bernie it would be two years before he could walk.
On hearing he might never regain full mobility, Bernie told medics to cut off the limb. He now hopes to be back leading his men within a year.
He told The Sun: "Amputation gave the best prospects for the rest of my life and the swiftest return to duty."
Headley Court Military Hospital is famous for its work fitting prosthetic limbs to wounded soldiers.
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