Set yourself goals - amputee coast path walker

Caroline has undergone surgery to enable her prosthesis to connect to her femur.

A Devon woman who walked the South West Coast Path with a prosthesis after losing her husband and her leg in a motorbike crash, has said she had to decide "what do I want from life?"

Caroline credits the 630-mile (1,014km) walk with helping her recovery from both the heartbreak and major surgery on her leg and arm.

After a friend mentioned he wanted to complete the whole route, Caroline said she was spurred on to do it too and having an objective was useful.

She said: "You have to have a plan, and... set yourself goals, which is what I did with the coast path."

This photo of Caroline and her husband Simon was taken in 2008 a few weeks before the fatal collision.

Caroline said she spent the first year after the crash in 2008 grieving for the loss of her husband Simon before beginning to focus on her own recuperation.

She said: "For the kids as well, losing their dad was the worst case scenario. I needed to pick myself up for the sake of them and for the sake of myself and my recovery."

She underwent osseointegration surgery in 2015, where a titanium implant was attached to her femur to enable her to walk longer distances.

Caroline has said that enjoying nature and being away from technology helped her.

Caroline said she had taken a walk with a friend when she found out about the South West Coast Path.

"He was saying he had always wanted to do all of the coast path and I was like - I can do that - and so the idea was set."

Caroline completed the walk in sections throughout 2017.

She says being outdoors helped her recovery: "Just the sea, and the fields and the woods and the animals and it's just the whole feel of getting back, just being free really, I think."

Jess El Araj runs a horse-breeding business with her mother, Caroline.

Caroline lives with her daughter Jess El Araj on a 17-acre ranch in west Devon, where she breeds horses.

Jess said: "She could have just given up completely and gone: 'This is it, what's the point,' but she didn't. She went completely the opposite way and went: 'I can do it,' and she has.

"She's gone above and beyond what anyone thought was possible."

Caroline said she would "always be in love" with her husband, Simon.

Caroline said she has come to accept what had happened because she said: "If you're forever looking back, how can you move forward."

She added: "I think you need to decide, what do I want from life? Do I want to continue with life or do I just want to stay in this moment forever?

"And, for me, I wanted to continue and it was hard and I'm not going to pretend that it wasn't.

"But, if you want to continue you have to have a plan, and think about how are you going to do this, set yourself goals, which is what I did with the coast path.

"I started with little pieces and looked at 630 miles and this is my ultimate goal, and I got there."