Girl, 8, picked to represent Wales in a dance show in the US before she lost her leg in a freak lawnmower accident returns to action with a prosthetic limb just ten weeks later

• Alys Davies suffered horrific injuries at her family home in Ammanford
• Fitted with prosthetic leg at the Artificial Limb Centre at Morriston, Swansea
• Story is set to feature in a documentary on Welsh language channel S4C 

An eight-year-old girl who lost her leg in a freak lawnmower accident was back on the dance floor with a prosthetic leg just ten weeks later.

Tiny dancer Alys Davies suffered horrific injuries in the accident with the lawnmower at her family home in Ammanford in south-west Wales.

The youngster, who was chosen to represent her country at a dance exhibition last year, was rushed to hospital before undergoing an amputation below the knee – and was fitted with a prosthetic leg at the Artificial Limb and Appliance Centre at Morriston, Swansea.

The Strictly Come Dancing fan Alys shocked medics with her recovery when she was back dancing less than three months later.

She said: ‘At the start I felt totally different but as time went on, I was getting better and I felt more like the normal kids.

Tiny dancer Alys Davies suffered horrific injuries in the accident with the lawnmower at her family home in Ammanford in south-west Wales

The youngster, who was chosen to represent her country at a dance exhibition last year, was rushed to hospital before undergoing an amputation below the knee

The Strictly Come Dancing fan Alys shocked medics with her recovery when she was back dancing less than three months later

‘Now I feel like a normal kid but just with a different leg.’

Alys was playing in the garden with her sister Lauren when she suffered the agonising injury from getting trapped in her father’s ride-on lawnmower, which stripped the skin from her lower leg.

She said: ‘I was filming my sister and then the lawnmower came and I stepped back and the lawnmower grabbed my leg and then it peeled my skin.

‘I had a shock and I didn’t think I’d be able to do things I used to do before the accident.’

Alys’ father Dylan was driving the lawnmower when the accident happened – and it’s a moment he’ll never forget.

He said: ‘It is a moment that will stay with me forever. It’ll probably stay with her forever as well. But you can’t live in that moment and as unfortunate and as horrendous as it was, we’ve got to move forward.

‘It’s not something that I will ever forget but it is something that I’m going to have to put to one side in order to remain in a good family environment in the homeplace.’

Alys started dancing when she was three years old. At the beginning of last year, she was chosen to represent Wales in a dance exhibition out in Los Angeles before the garden accident.

Alys’ mother Nia said: ‘How do you tell an eight-year-old who a fortnight previously was performing on the stage. How do you break that to her without shattering her dreams?

‘My initial thought was, we’ve still got Alys – she’s still with us. Something from somewhere came and I just thought ‘this has to be the making of her, not the breaking of her.

‘As soon as she had a wheelchair she didn’t want anybody to help her, she wanted to independently wheel it. As soon as we came out of hospital, she wanted to go straight back to dancing. She’s been the tower of strength through all of this.

‘We met the whole team and everyone made us feel at ease – they have been amazing.

‘The team has been giving her challenges and charting her progress, and giving her goals to aim for.

‘She even said she enjoyed her time in hospital because everyone was so friendly. Everybody has been looking after her wellbeing and they’ve been so helpful.’

Alys was playing in the garden with her sister Lauren when she suffered the agonising injury from getting trapped in her father’s ride-on lawnmower, which stripped the skin from her lower leg

 Alys’ father Dylan was driving the lawnmower when the accident happened – and it’s a moment he’ll never forget 

Alys went on to be fitted with a specialist sports blade to allow her to take part in sporting activities more easily

The specialist blade was made available thanks to the Welsh Health Specialist Services Committee, NHS Wales and Welsh Government funding

Alys’ story is set to feature in a documentary Welsh language S4C – Channel 4 in Wales – on Sunday called ‘Drych: Stori Alys’

At the beginning of last year, the eight-year-old was chosen to represent Wales in a dance exhibition out in Los Angeles before the garden accident

Alys went on to be fitted with a specialist sports blade to allow her to take part in sporting activities more easily. Before long, she was using it in school and at dance classes.

She said: ‘At the start I felt totally different because Lauren was helping me but as time went on, I was getting better and I felt more like the normal kids.

‘Now I feel like a normal kid but just with a different leg.’

The specialist blade was made available thanks to the Welsh Health Specialist Services Committee, NHS Wales and Welsh Government funding.

Advanced prosthetist Paul Drayton said: ‘Alys attended Swansea Artificial Limb and Appliance Service in the weeks following her the accident, which is where I became involved in her care.

‘We began her early rehabilitation program which involved physiotherapy with the physios and her prosthetist, and she continued to have weekly physiotherapy input to encourage improvement of the knee and hip and also maintaining strength globally’

‘By mid-August Alys was ready for her first prosthesis, which she took to exceptionally quickly. She was soon using it in school as well as her dance class.

‘Getting back to dancing was really important for Alys so we needed to learn some of her dance moves to help her to achieve her goals; she got me doing the Macarena at the Centre.

‘Alys has been coping remarkably well. She’s back to doing the things she loves which is great to see.’

Alys’ story is set to feature in a documentary Welsh language S4C – Channel 4 in Wales – on Sunday called ‘Drych: Stori Alys’.

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