ROMANIAN amputee Stela Bizdu drove across Europe for three days - just so a Dorset company could help her wear platform shoes again.

Ms Bizdu who lost her leg below the knee around a year ago in a road traffic accident, soon discovered that services for amputees in Romania are very limited, and often the prosthetics issued to amputees are ill-fitting and painful to wear.

Her hopes of wearing her favourite platform shoes were dashed.

However, when her husband, Mihail, discovered that Dorset Orthopaedic - which is world renowned for its prosthetics - could help Stela, he decided to driver her and their young son, George Ianis, from their home town of Tulcea to England.

They visited for the first time late last year and Stela now has a prosthesis with an adjustable ankle so she can wear heels of up to 7cm in height.

She attends regular rehabilitation sessions with Dorset Orthopaedic physiotherapist Mary Tebb, and says she eventually intends to have 'a leg for every occasion'.

“In the end I hope to have my every day leg, a regular high heeled leg, a leg for very high heels as well, a waterproof leg and a silicone leg for weddings and parties," she said. "I have some shoes at home with a 20cm heel and a 7cm platform and I will walk in them one day, I am determined!"

Stela, who owns an agricultural farming business, said she is now looking forward to the future and a normal life with her family, and charts her progress and her adventures on her Instagram page, stepsbystela.

She still visits Dorset Orthopaedic but says: “I don’t see my leg as a problem, I am alive and I am healthy. Coming here, I feel healthier, more positive and so much better.”