A POOLE cricketer is recovering after having his leg amputated, in a bid to escape a life dominated by excruciating pain.

Rob Franks took the unusual step of starting fundraising for the amputation after the NHS refused to pay for the life-changing surgery.

Married with a six-year-old son and an 11-year-old stepson, Rob, 39, lives in Poole and is head coach at Ellingham Cricket Club in the New Forest.

He was injured playing cricket in 2011 and was found to have an aggressive tumour in his left knee.

The former chef had an operation but a routine check-up two years later showed the growth had returned and was even bigger than before. A second operation left Rob with nerve damage, forcing him to use crutches and a wheelchair to get around.

Then, in 2014 he joined a cricket club for people with disabilities but suffered a broken leg during his second game for the side.

Surgeons managed to repair the break with pins, plates and a metal rod but Rob was left suffering in almost constant agony, experiencing pain that he said some of the strongest drugs around "didn't even touch."

Speaking to the Echo this week after his operation, Rob said: "I actually feel OK to be honest, I'm back to my cheerful self.

"I have phantom limb pains which was to be expected, my foot is itching except I don't have a foot to itch. It is a very strange feeling but I'm fully prepared to live with it.

"The chronic pain I had before my operation is gone and the phantoms are a walk in the park considering.

"I have wonderful family support and without my wife and two children I wouldn't be able to get through this."

Wellwishers dug deep, raising £19,000 towards the cost of the operation - which was carried out by a private consultant.

Rob said: "I've started physiotherapy already and have had two sessions. I will be working hard with the physiotherapists over the coming weeks and months to strengthen both my good leg and my stump.

"I want to get back to playing disability cricket with Middlesex and regular club cricket with Ellingham Cricket Club.

"I'm completely blown away by the generosity of people. People who don't know me have donated thousands - it is quite surreal to be honest. I'm forever in people's debt for what they have done, and are still doing for me."