Back home - briefly

I’m just back from an amazing, successful and inspiring 10 days in Zambia which all went according to plan. Arifa Farooq from BBC Scotland was with me filming the whole trip. I am really glad that it has been recorded because I’ll have some proof that the experience was as good as it was!

John Jellis and his wife, Jane, looked after us very well when we were in Lusaka. The only surprise was the cold and the need for a real fire every night! It was considerably warmer in Scotland the whole time we were away!

Being flown in a small plane at low heights is wonderful because of what you can see on the ground. The flight up the Zambezi from Mongu to Chitokoloki was breathtaking.

I got financial matters sorted out with Sister Egidia at the Zambian Italian Orthopaedic Hospital (ZIOH) and we reached an agreement about future training.

But the highlight was of course seeing people of all ages queuing up to see the prosthetist we had brought with us from ZIOH, watching them being fitted with the legs and other devices he had made and brought with him and seeing follow up patients walking about quite happily and confidently on prostheses and orthoses provided by 500 miles. It costs us on average about £100 to provide a device in a remote location. It’s hard to contemplate that some of our patients have managed on crutches for up to 10 years for the lack of a service.

I have a week’s holiday in Spain now and then I have to hit the ground running with Miles for Smiles to make sure it raises the money I need to continue this work!