How high-tech hands free crutch helped Leamington woman conquer her 23rd Wolf Run

Emma Tysoe, 43, was supported by a team of friends and fellow runners when she took part in the Wolf Run event earlier this month, where participants navigate a series of manmade and natural obstacles over a demanding course.

Emma was wearing an iWALK2.0, a hands-free crutch which enables people with lower leg injuries or illnesses to stay mobile.

The medically-approved device functions like a hi-tech peg-leg, allowing users to walk freely and reclaim the use of their arms and hands.

Against the odds, Emma made it over the finish line in just under six hours and clocked up her 23rd Wolf Run in five years.

She said: “It was an incredible day and my determination to finish combined with the support I received along the way kept me going.”

Adventure-seeker Emma broke her ankle in June when she fell awkwardly while bouldering.

She spent a week in hospital awaiting surgery to insert two screws into her foot.

When she was sent home to recover under strict instructions not to bear any weight, she became so fearful of crutches that she didn’t move for three weeks.

Emma said: “I tried crutches but I kept falling over and injuring myself.

“I became too scared to move, so I literally just stayed on the sofa all day, every day, apart from when my husband took me out at weekends in a wheelchair we hired.

“I got so depressed that I couldn’t do anything – I was in a big, black hole.

“I had ten weeks with my leg in a cast ahead of me, followed by several more weeks wearing a special boot, and time has never moved more slowly.

“I just couldn’t get my positivity back.”

Emma adds: “A friend of mine is an amputee and he’s used the iWALK2.0 before.

“I decided to buy one and it completely changed my recovery.

“It was easy to use and I could live my life again.

“I could move around the house, help my husband in the kitchen and start getting out and about again.

“It had a real impact on my mental wellbeing.”

The iWALK2.0 was first invented by a Canadian farmer who broke his foot but still needed to work.

He was amazed to find there wasn’t a better alternative to crutches, so he took to his workshop and, less than an hour later, the first ever iWALK was made.