Dorset Engineer Tests Self-Built Swimming Prosthetic 9 Months After Leg Amputation
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 14
Dorset Engineer Tests Self-Built Swimming Prosthetic 9 Months After Leg Amputation
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 14
Alex Young, 46, completed the first sea trial of a homemade swimming prosthetic at Knoll Beach after losing his leg below the knee in August 2025.
Osteomyelitis had forced the life-saving amputation, and Young said he built the limb himself because he could not find a suitable swimming prosthesis to buy.
The device uses a paddle fixed to a metal rod, designed so he can walk into the water and swim; the test was his first sea swim in 2 years.
Young had already made a low-cost running prosthesis from online parts and now wants to create a cycling version, with a triathlon as his goal.
A 5km charity run in Blandford on July 3 is his next target, with longer-term plans that could include more fundraising and even climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
With a £150 running leg, has one man exposed a critical flaw in the multi-thousand-pound prosthetics industry?
Can a custom-built swimming leg get past strict triathlon rules, or will innovation be disqualified before the race starts?