What’s your name – Nicola Hughes

how old are you?  42

Who lives with you and how old are they?  Archie my son and he’s 15

Tell us a little bit about them what are their favourite colours or hobbies?  my son is almost 6 ft at 15 years old. He loves bright colours so he stands out. He’s an Explorer Scout and training to be a Young Leader helping out with Scouts. He takes his GCSE’s this year.

When did you become an amputee?  I literally got legless on the 1st January 2016 so 3 years.
Have you got a name for your “stump”?  Stella

What was the biggest concern of being an amputee?  how I would manage with day to day life. How I was going to cope at home alone with my son. Also how was I going to make a cup of tea from a wheelchair believe it or not!!!

Were you able to work as an amputee?  I currently have 3 jobs!! I’m a cake maker, I work as a dinner lady at a local primary school and I’m an invigilator at a local college. I went back to work 5 months after my amputation.

How do you spend your days?  making cakes is my biggest love. Creating something out of a bag of ingredients gives me huge satisfaction. I like to go to the cinema with Archie and we like to go on adventures. We are having our first holiday on our own to America this year!!

What’s been the biggest challenge you have had to overcome and how did you overcome it?  For me personally it was entering Cake International for the last two years. Getting a cake to Birmingham and entering it into the show without any damage. I had to overcome challenges to physically get the cake in but I did it. I placed with Bronze and Silver. For me to achieve this with a disability was a personal achievement that I never thought I would do as my confidence had been knocked losing my leg. I now don’t see why I should miss out on anything – there are always ways to do things. It might be a bit harder and take longer but determination goes a long way!!!

What’s your family’s favourite thing to do?  Spend time together, whether at home, cinema, the beach or anywhere outside – just as long as it’s together! I’m lucky enough that my parents, sister and niece/nephew live locally.

Have you got any funny memories that have happened since your amputation?  after my amputation my dad decided I was off to Rio for the para-Olympics. He was strapping some fins on and I was off to swim. We had friends, family, nurses, doctors and anyone else coming on the plane with us to get there and support me!! We didn’t get far though as the Ziki virus stopped me going so we didn’t even get off the runway!!! It massively helped me through the dark times after losing my leg and it paved the way for me to be able to laugh and have fun again.

When did you come across Steel Bones?  I was introduced to Emma via a mutual friend. We messaged and Steel Bones invited me down to their first family day and I met Emma and Leigh there. Their help has been invaluable to me coming to terms with my amputation and for meeting other amputees and their families. It’s also helped my son realise that he’s not alone being the son of an amputee.

What does Steel Bones do for your family?  it gives me access to a community that are all in the same boat. Whether it’s arms or legs we are all managing in our own way. Without them I wouldn’t be where I am today as meeting people from the group are not just people anymore, they are my friends.

What would you most like to achieve?  Since getting my C-leg I have been able to start walking without any sticks, I want to continue doing this and look for a challenge that I can do, my first big challenge is going abroad just me and my son with no other grown ups to help!!
Small or big is there one thing you hope to accomplish? I used to take for granted that I could walk to my parents . My aim this year is to walk there again – it might take a while but I want to get there!!