When Lee Chapman had his leg amputated four years ago he was determined to not let it define him as a person.
Since then the 37-year-old has continued to defy the odds.
The Aberdeenshire man has partly climbed Mount Everest and followed that feat up by learning to scuba dive.
Motorbike enthusiast Mr Chapman suffered severe injury to his right leg and massive blood loss after a car crash near Oldmeldrum seven years ago.
After 14 operations and intensive physiotherapy to try to save his limb, he endured a major setback in March 2017 when his leg contracted a life-threatening infection.
Doctors attempted to save it but, ultimately, decided the safest course of action was to amputate.
Diving to success
Mr Chapman remained determined to continue with new experiences.
He has already completed two courses at Aberdeen Diving Services with instructor Andy Watson and is currently working towards his rescue diver qualification.
Mr Chapman, who also did some dives off the coast of Turkey last year, had the option of adapting the courses due to his disability.
But he was keen to complete them as normally as possible.
He said: “I’ve had that attitude and been like that through the whole of my life. When I became an amputee I could’ve gone down a lot of different paths and relied on different things, but it just wasn’t me.
“I wanted to do everything as a normal person.”
“I was going to make sure it wasn’t going to define me. It has defined me in certain respects, because I’ve achieved quite a lot with one leg, but I wanted to do everything as a normal person.”
New experience
He is already certified for diving to 30 metres (about 98ft) and has just started his rescue diver’s course.
This will allow him to deal with other divers should they have an emergency.
Mr Watson opened his Kinellar-based business in 2020 and has to date picked up five industry awards, including Scottish Enterprise “best diver” and “equipment specialist”.
But for all his years’ experience, it was his first-time teaching an above-knee amputee.
Mr Watson said: “Lee got in touch with me just over a year ago. He was wanting to learn to dive. He’s a bit of an adrenaline junkie.
“When he lost his leg he was told he was would struggle with this and that. But he’s working his way through ticking all the boxes.
“We started off with open water to see how he’d get on and since then he has been bitten by the bug.
“In the whole time I’ve been an instructor I’ve never taught an amputee.
“I’ve dived with someone in a wheelchair before but this is the first time of teaching an amputee of any description.
“It’s been a learning curve for me.”
‘Fantastic achievement’
Learning to dive as an amputee did present some difficulties but nothing Mr Chapman, who runs Chapman Outdoor Solutions, wasn’t able to navigate.
He said: “I’m a very adaptable person so the courses probably were difficult, but I got on well with them and – pardon the pun – like a duck to water. I was really confident.”
Getting his diving gear on and going in and out of the water present challenges, because one side of his body is heavier than the other.
Mr Watson said: “Little things like balance in the water is different to everyone else so he needed extra weights.
“I don’t know how he’s managed to do it. He didn’t want any special treatment and was super determined.
“It’s a fantastic achievement.”
Mr Chapman is now aiming to become a Padi (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) dive master.
