A MAN is rebuilding his life after a horror crash led to his left leg being amputated above the knee.

Daniel Anderson, 24, from Bolney, is learning to walk with a prosthetic limb after losing his knee in a motorbike accident in Cyprus in June.

The collision left him in hospital for four and a half months as doctors carried out 17 operations in a desperate bid to save his leg.

“I caught MRSA in Cyprus and a couple of bugs too,” said Mr Anderson.

“I had a really bad infection for a while.

“They didn’t even have anti-biotics in the hospital so I came back here after six weeks.”

He had been working as a doorman at nightclubs in Cyprus for just under a year when a car swerved across the road and threw him and his girlfriend off their bike and into the roadside barrier.

“My girlfriend fractured her knee but I bore the brunt of it because I was at the front,” said Mr Anderson.

He was eventually treated at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead for three months.

Doctors finally amputated his leg in October.

Mr Anderson said: “They say it’s eight times harder to walk with a prosthetic.

“I had it delivered three days ago but I can only wear it for short periods.

“I don’t have the muscle capabilities to drive at the moment, so my girlfriend is driving me everywhere.

“But I’ll practise and crack on.

“I get about on crutches pretty well for the time being.

“I’m quite a strong person and it’s time to get used to this way of life now.

“I am looking to get back into work.”

It usually takes up to a year for amputees to regain full use of their legs, but Mr Anderson has made rapid progress.

On New Year’s Eve, he will be walking from the West Pier to the Palace Pier in Brighton to raise money for the Step By Step With Kyra campaign.

Six-year old Kyra Warrell is trying to raise money to save her own leg from amputation.

The youngster, from Westdene in Brighton, has rare condition which means she faces amputation unless she can have specialist treatment in Israel in February.

Kyra attends Westdene Primary School in Brighton with Mr Anderson’s son Alfie.

Alfie knew about Kyra’s appeal and told his father about it at the end of Mr Anderson’s first post-amputation physio session.

“I can relate to what Kyra would have to go through,” he said.

“I thought it would be a good challenge for me and a chance to raise more money for her.”

Mr Anderson’s father has already donated £1,000 with another £500 coming from a family friend.

The fundraising efforts have already hit £2,000, but his target is £5,000.