Dorset firm giving Heather Mills a leg to skate on in Dancing on Ice (From Bournemouth Echo)

Dorset firm giving Heather Mills a leg to skate on in Dancing on Ice

7:00am Tuesday 12th January 2010 in

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DANCING on Ice star Heather Mills could go all the way according to the man who built her a special prosthetic leg to enable her to skate.

The 41-year-old made her first live performance on the hit ITV show with skating partner Matt Evers on Sunday and was told by judge Nicky Slater she was one of the best skaters in the contest to date.

Heather had the lower part of her leg amputated after being knocked down by a motorbike while crossing a road in 1993.

She made world history the following year when she visited Dorset Orthopaedic at Ringwood to have a new ‘bionic’ leg fitted by top prosthetist Bob Watts.

Since then Heather has become a regular visitor to the centre to receive ongoing care and treatment and offer support to other patients.

When Heather, who is divorced from Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney, was asked to take part in Dancing on Ice she contacted Mr Watts and asked him to make her a new leg.

Heather now has two legs which have been made out of carbon fibre to be as light as possible and are covered with a fibre for aesthetic purposes. A custom-made skate has been attached.

One of the difficulties faced by Mr Watts was finding a leg that would enable her to skate freely – looking at a fixed ankle and one with flexibility Mr Watts said: “I spent two solid days experimenting with different feet and got absolutely frozen. In the end we came up with this because the best option was giving her a fixed ankle.”

The disadvantage is that her routines have to be changed to compensate for the inflexibility in her ankle.

Mr Watts travelled to the studios on Sunday night to watch Heather in action and help her with any problems – a journey he may find himself repeating for a number of weeks.

“It has been suggested that I go to the live shows. I really don’t want Heather to have a problem. It wouldn’t be very good for Heather or for Dorset Orthopaedic. If there is a problem with her leg she can’t go on the ice.

“She has so much courage to really drive herself and she is very focused.

“She started a couple of months ago and that was the first time she had skated. I saw her on Sunday night and her progress is phenomenal. If she keeps that up over the next six weeks she has every chance of winning. It all depends on whether the public get behind her.”

Writing on her own website, Heather said: “Training over the past few months has been so hard. I’ve broken ribs, shifted my pelvis and injured my shoulder. Ice-skating is the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. It is almost impossible when my ankle won’t bend.

“But I’m really determined and I don’t care if I’m the worst skater there. It isn’t just my charities that benefit from my taking part. I am always looking to inspire other amputees.”