A man who feared he would never walk again when he lost his leg in a motorbike accident has battled back to fitness to take up running again for the first time in nine years.

Philip Sheridan, of Worth Village, suffered serious injuries when his motorbike slid under the wheel of a lorry in 2002 during a pleasure ride to Whitby. The bones in the right side of his body were smashed and his right leg was so badly damaged it had to be amputated below the knee.

Doctors warned Mr Sheridan he may never walk effectively again. But after nine years and nine operations, the 48-year-old has defied their diagnosis and returned to his old hobby of trail running with the help of a carbon fibre running blade.

He said: “When the surgeons warned they may have to amputate my leg, there was a moment when I realised my life was never going to be the same again.”

Mr Sheridan was fitted with a prosthetic leg, but found walking painful. He was offered an operation last year to remove scar tissue and a metal plate from his right leg to improve his mobility.

He said: “I had scar tissue from five operations on my right femur alone. I didn’t have a great deal of muscle and running was out of the question.

“It was a really big ask for me to have another operation. I didn’t want to go all the way back and be in a wheelchair again, but I took a deep breath and said OK, let’s go for it.”

The operation was a success and Mr Sheridan gradually began running on his prosthetic leg to build up his strength.

This year he was offered a specialist running blade by the prosthetic and orthotics service at Seacroft Hospital in Leeds and ran for the first time in August. He now runs up to ten miles twice a week and is a familiar site trail running with his partner Helen Parsons at St Ives and on the hills around Keighley, Ilkley and Otley.

Because of Mr Sheridan’s other injuries, it sometimes takes days to recover from a long run.

“It is challenging to run with one blade and one leg.” he said. “The blade is designed for flat running tracks, so I constantly have to watch for stones and tree roots, which could cause the blade to collapse or bounce off to the side and cause serious injury to my leg.”

Despite the risks, Mr Sheridan hopes to run the Dales Way next year for charity. He added: “Because of everything that has happened to me, I think this life has got to be lived.”