A Tayside man who lost his leg in a horrific accident is learning to stand strong again thanks to his family and friends.
Former soldier Greig Yorke lost thebottom half of his left leg after being struck by a car in an accident on the A92 on June 2.
The Carnoustie man, 39, endured areoccurrence of his post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the life-changing accident on the A92, which he first suffered from following his departure from the services after discovering a mass grave during his time in Bosnia.
Through the help of his family and friends, however, Greig has vowed to walk again and took his first steps on that journey yesterday with a charity walk across the Tay Road Bridge.
The father-of-two joined more than 20 of his close friends and family for the Leg for Greig Walk, which was the first of many fundraising events, aimed at raising enough money to pay for a for a £15,000 prosthetic limb.
Although the ex-serviceman will get a prosthetic limb from the NHS after his stump has healed, he is determined to pay privately for a high-tech version.
“I want to be able to dance with my four-year-old Lily,” he said.
“We always used to dance in the house and go on the trampoline together and I want to do that again.”
The team set out at noon from the Fife side and walked across the bridge in around 30 minutes. The blustery winds and cloudy skies did not deter the eager bunch and their spirits stayed resolute.
They eventually made it back over to the Fife side at 1.15pm at which point Greig thanked everyone who took part, including his two daughters Lily, 4, and Jamee, 13.
Greig said: “Everyone has been brilliant, I can’t thank them enough. I also can’t thank the NHS staff enough because without them I wouldn’t be here today.
“I got across the bridge in a wheelchair as I can’t walk very far just now or even stand for long periods of time. I have been out of action for about 11 weeks so the muscles in my legs have all gone.
“It’s a hard journey but I’ll get there in the end through the support of my family and friends.”
He added: “It was great having my two daughters with me and I’m as determined as ever to see this through to the end.”
The next step for Greig will be to tally up the money raised from yesterday’s walk and then look ahead to a fun day on October 20 in Carnoustie Boys’ Brigade Hall.
mdalziel@thecourier.co.uk