AN ASSEMBLY member is backing a Wrexham amputee who is aiming to set up a support group for people in the region who have lost limbs.
Welsh Conservative AM Mark Isherwood met Gordon McFadden, who lost his left leg below the knee when he was 18 months old in 1962 due to a deformity.
Mr McFadden is trying to set up a self-user group WASHA – Wrexham Amputee Self Help Alliance and User Group serviced by the Artificial Limb and Appliance Centre in Wrexham.
The centre covers a vast area stretching from Anglesey to Aberystwyth to Llandrindod Wells and back to North East Wales.
Mr Isherwood said: “Mr McFadden is keen to establish contact with like-minded amputees, their family members or carers and health care professionals from across the region to form a group that can drive forward aspirations for a near normal mobile life.
“As he said, no-one can understand the needs of an amputee better than an amputee.”
Mr Isherwood is also planning to write to the Artificial Limb and Appliance Centre in Wrexham in support of Mr McFadden.
The number of amputees registered in Wales averages 3,275 annually.
New amputees average 325 a year and about 70 new amputees access services in Wrexham annually.
For details, go to www.washa.btck.co.uk or email washa2010@ hotmail.co.uk.