Ex Marine and former NHS worker Jim Ashworth-Beaumont with his wife Keri
(Picture: Daniel Hambury/Stella Pictures Ltd)A former Royal Marine who has spent years working as an NHS medic helping people to use artificial limbs is now trying to buy one of his own after losing most of his arm in a horrific cycling accident in London.
Jim Ashworth-Beaumont had his right arm severed above the elbow and suffered other critical injuries in a collision with a supermarket delivery lorry on the south circular in Catford in July.
His family feared he would not survive and he is still recovering in King’s College Hospital after spending five weeks in an induced coma and undergoing months of further treatment.
But his sisters are now raising money to buy him a specialist prosthetic arm from Germany, which will be fitted using a technique called osseointegration in which the device is implanted into the bone so that it fuses together.
Mr Ashworth-Beaumont spent five weeks in an induced coma following the crash
The aim is to allow Mr Ashworth-Beaumont to regain the use of his arm so that he can resume his medical career at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore and continue helping others in a similar plight.
The prosthetic and the surgery to fit it are not available on the NHS and are expected to cost well over £100,000, with additional costs likely to be required to pay for ongoing care.
Mr Ashworth-Beaumont, 54, who was training for a triathalon at the time of his accident, has also recorded a video from his hospital bed appealing for greater efforts to improve cycle safety in London.
Mr Ashworth-Beaumont is a keen triathlete
In it he warns that more lives will be lost and more people badly injured unless action is taken, and calls on the capital’s cycling commissioner Will Norman to speed up the introduction of dedicated cycle lanes away from large vehicles.
“I was run over by an articulated lorry at Catford Bridge which is a known hot-spot for collisions between vehicles and cyclists. I’m a victim of rampant congestion in that area,” he says in the video.
“I live in Greenwich, I love to cycle round that part of London and unfortunately I ended up under the wheels of a 40 ton truck. I lost my right arm, I’ve got life-changing injuries to my right upper limb, I’ve lost my arm basically, also my liver and kidneys are irreparably damaged.
“My full-time job at the NHS at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital has been curtailed for now. I’m going to need extensive support for the rest of my life, not only from my wife and family, but in terms of benefits.
He had his right arm severed above the elbow and suffered other critical injuries
“I beseech that mine be one of the last serious injuries to occur through the lack of commitment by local government to do the simple things – to create cycle pathways in back-street areas that trucks cannot access and leave the main roads to big vehicles.
“Something simple like that would change lives and stop injuries happening. It’s not complicated. It makes sense. So please do the right thing.”
Speaking to the Standard from hospital, Mr Ashworth-Beaumont reiterated his plea for action to improve safety and also spoke about his hope of resuming his medical career if he can obtain the specialist prosthetic he is seeking.
He added: “I make artificial limbs and things like that, using a high degree of manual dexterity, so losing a hand is a bit of an issue.
Mr Ashworth-Beaumont is a senior orthotist at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust
“The hope is that by obtaining a prosthetic device with a bit more technology behind it that I’ll be better able to undertake clinical work in future and carry on doing what I love.”
His wife Keri, 43, also expressed optimism about the potential for him to resume his medical career as she described the potential benefits of the osseointegration technique.
“They remap your nerves and insert a rod into your bone. It allows the arm and hand to work as normally as possible,” she said,
“This would enable him still to treat patients face to face rather than just be resigned to a life of seeing people online or research and development.
“The surgery itself would be around £100,000, the device about £50,000, and then upgrades. The minimum we are looking to raise is £100,000, that’s what we’ve put on the crowd funder, but realistically we are looking at £150,000 to £200,000.”
Recalling her husband’s accident in July, she said that he had “defied all the odds” in surviving.
Jim Ashworth-Beaumont with his wife Keri
Daniel Hambury/Stella Pictures Ltd“The injuries he sustained were absolutely horrific. His entire chest and abdomen was ripped off as a result of the dragging,” she said.
“There was a tear to his main liver artery, it was more or less split in two, five spinal fractures, bones in his face and his arms, he broke every single rib. He’ll be on dialysis for life.
“How he survived I don’t know. He was in a coma for month and critical for weeks, but he can now walk unaided. It was his fitness that saved him.”
On the crowd-funding website set up to help buy Mr Ashworth-Beaumont his new arm, his sisters Lisa Beaumont and Nicky Buchanan describe him as a “triathlete and international veteran marathon runner” who did post-graduate degrees in “neurorehabilitation and motor skills rehabilitiation.”
They say that he has spent the last 20 years as “a senior orthotist at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust, often working on rehabilitation with patients who have suffered limb loss” and that “the irony of Jim’s current situation is unbelievable.”
They add: “Jim has devoted himself for the past 20 years to the care and rehabilitation of patients, many of whom have lost limbs. The aim is for Jim to return to his work and valuable research working with patients on their rehabilitation after limb loss.”
The crowd-funding appeal on behalf of Mr Ashworth-Beaumont is at: https://uk.gofundme.com/f/jim039s-greatest-challenge
