Leg amputation: “If you have wings, you don’t need legs”

Living with a leg amputation
“If you have wings, you don’t need legs”

It all started with a big dream

My story taught me one thing above all else: We can travel all over the world, but in the end we end up with ourselves. However, I didn’t even begin to realize when I was in my mid-twenties I set out to fulfill my greatest dream . The dream of a trip around the world. Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada – I wanted to see the world, have experiences and of course have fun.

I had already booked my “Around the World” ticket when my mom, with whom I was very close, fell ill with cancer and died. It literally pulled the rug out from under my feet, and I stayed with my brother and father to mourn with them for the time being.

The accident in the outback

Almost six months later I was on the plane to Australia to catch up on the trip. I knew my mother would have wanted me to fulfill my big dream. But at the other end of the world, fate struck a second time.

On the way to Uluru, as the Australian natives call their sacred mountain, three friends and I had a serious accident – in the middle of the outback. My buddy died and I fought for my life in the intensive care unit for weeks. I won this fight, but my left lower leg had to be amputated. A big shock to someone who cares as much about sport as I do. Because my most urgent question was not only: Will I ever be able to walk again? But: will I ever be able to do sports again? And what about traveling?

Moments of greatest desperation were my chance to heal

In the months after the accident, I didn’t just learn to walk with a prosthesis. I also felt my way back into my life step by step. In the beginning I still struggled with despair, helplessness and the question “Why did this all happen to me of all people ?!”, I learned over time that there was no answer. We cannot influence what happens to us in life. But we have an influence on how we deal with it.

We can travel all over the world, but in the end we end up with ourselves.

I realized that our possibilities are almost limitless if we follow our heart’s path. So I not only learned to walk with the prosthesis, but over time I was able to do sports again. I swam across Lake Zurich, climb the highest rock, play tennis again and even learned to ski on one leg.

Many people ask me how I managed to remain so positive and fun-loving despite these strokes of fate. I think I owe that to a mix of inner strength, spiritual belief and the many lovely people in my life.

Strokes of fate do not mean the end

It is all the more important to me to pass on what I have learned from this time. Today, as an alternative practitioner with my own naturopathic practice, I treat people who suffer from phantom pain and also support that Spades project. Amputee people help other affected people to cope with the difficult situation.

I also share my story and my way back to a new old life with as many people as possible. Each of us can be really shaken by fate in life. The most important thing is to realize that it is often the hardest moments in life that give us the chance for holistic healing. That we should never lose faith in the impossible and should always go our own way.

By the way: My heart’s desire has not been fulfilled to this day. Uluru is waiting and I can’t wait to finally complete this journey.

The author: Christina change grew up in Canada and Greece before her family moved to Freising, Bavaria. She works as an alternative practitioner and coach with her own practice and, with the “PiK project”, accompanies other sufferers with a leg amputation. In her book “If you have wings, you don’t need legs – How I survived the worst year of my life and grew beyond myself“(HarperCollins, 16 euros) she writes about her life. You can find them on Instagram at christina_change_

Brigitte