Tradespeople team up to help amputee plumber

Mark Willerton was a self-employed plumber and bathroom fitter before his injury

Volunteer tradespeople are coming together to build a wheelchair-friendly wet room for a plumber who lost his leg after an accident at work.

Mark Willerton, from Banbury, Oxfordshire, ruptured the tendons in his right leg after picking up a packet of screws from his van.

Band of Builders (BoB), a charity which helps people in the construction industry battling illness or injury, will carry out the work.

Mr Willerton, who also used to take part in powerlifting, said he was "so grateful" that the charity was stepping in to help.

He added: "I know exactly what needs doing and am gutted that I can’t do it myself – but when it is done it will make a huge difference to the quality of my life."

The decision was taken to amputate Mr Willerton's leg after multiple unsuccessful surgeries

Mr Willerton was a self-employed plumber and bathroom fitter, but hurt his ankle while working at a racecourse in 2019.

He decided to finish the job before going home, not realising how serious the injury was.

When he went to hospital he was diagnosed with a fractured ankle, though it later transpired he had completely ruptured the tendons in it.

Surgery to knit the tendons back together left him bed-bound for four months, but proved unsuccessful. Two further surgeries followed, but they too did not work.

In 2022 the decision was taken to amputate. More surgeries still followed so he could use a prosthetic leg which he now alternates with a wheelchair.

The former powerlifter now alternates between a prosthetic leg and wheelchair

Mr Willerton later had a painful fall on his residual limb in his bathroom, which is when he and his wife Lynne contacted BoB.

Volunteers will make the bathroom wider, and turn it into a wet room with a large shower and fold-down seat.

It will be BoB's 38th project since it was founded in 2016.

Operations director Tony Steel said: "We’re gearing up for Mark’s project, and yet again the 50,000-strong members of the BoB community have done us proud and answered the call to help one of their own."

The project takes place at the end of August.

The Willertons reached out to Band of Builders after he had a painful fall in his bathroom