'I want to help after losing my legs to disease'

For Jared Hughes from Stafford, being diagnosed with stage five kidney disease in 2022 after a period of being unwell was a shock.

He was told his kidney function was at just 3%, and what followed was regular dialysis and working his way up to eventually getting a transplant.

What he did not expect, as a result of his kidney disease, was to lose both of his legs in separate amputations by March 2025.

Now, he has written a memoir which he hopes will help others who are going through health challenges.

After starting treatment for kidney disease, Hughes began suffering severe pain in his lower legs, which he later found to be caused by arterial disease.

There was necrosis on his left foot.

"The only option was to amputate the left leg," he told the BBC.

Although doctors had concerns about his right leg, they thought they would be able to save it.

"With the first amputation, although the initial bit was a massive shock, I was in so much pain. I kind of psychologically just realised that actually, the best thing to do was to have the amputation," Hughes explained.

It was about 11 months later, he had been given his prosthetic and was learning to walk when he found out his right leg would also have to be amputated.

"For me that was extremely difficult - I had accepted the first leg, now I was going to lose the second leg. That was devastating," he said.

The second amputation took place in February 2025.

"The second time round I found [recovery] much easier because I knew what to expect, I knew what was coming."

"I remember the first time I got my prosthetic and I stood and I walked, only perhaps 50 metres… but that was amazing. I'd been in a wheelchair for over a year at that point."

While going through the second amputation, he got talking to a man in the hospital bed next to him, who was about to have one of his limbs removed.

"I found myself being able to talk to him, telling him what to expect, what to do, what not to do - and I think he found it extremely helpful," he said.

It was this that inspired Hughes to write and publish his memoir, Getting Legless.

"That was the key driver really, it's to be of help," he said.

"It was healing me at the same time. As I was writing I found that there were a few things I hadn't quite overcome as well as I thought I had."

He told the BBC that he had received feedback from readers who said the book had helped them with their own experiences.

"I wanted the book to be humorous, but also quite candid, in terms of the reality of having your life turned upside down - firstly by chronic illness but then also having limbs amputated as well," he added.

"It was three years from the point of being diagnosed with kidney disease through to the first amputation... it was a lot to deal with."

Now with two prosthetics, Hughes walks as much as he can.

"My car has now been adapted. I'm a big car fanatic, so being able to get in my car now and take myself to hospital for dialysis three times a week, being self sufficient is absolutely fantastic."

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