How losing a leg in horror car crash helped County Durham dad chase his football dreams

After losing his leg in a terrifying car crash sports mad Sonny Rockett could have given up on his dreams.

But the dad now believes the amputation he was forced to undergo at the age of 19 could have changed his life for the better.

Sonny was lucky to survive after his car ploughed into a concrete pillar when he lost control on a wet road, just a year after passing his driving test.

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Miraculously the teenager escaped the mangled Citroen Saxo with his life, but medics told him his leg would have to be amputated unless he wanted to spend the rest of his days in a wheelchair.

But Sonny, who was studying sports science at the time of the crash, managed to turn what many would have seen as a devastating prognosis into a positive life-changing event.

Now after battling back to fitness and joining an amputee football team the Royal Mail manager is preparing the represent his country playing the sport he loves.

And today the 35-year-old has told the Chronicle how the devastating care crash has had a positive impact on his life.

Sonny said: “I didn’t believe in fate before this, but there has been positive things come out of it. I makes us think someone is looking out for us. If someone says I can’t do something now I say; ‘Yes I can’.”

Sonny, from Easington in County Durham, was driving on a dual carriageway in Darlington when he crashed in 2006..

Surgeons told him if they were to save his leg he would never walk again, and his best chance of mobility would be to have his injured limb amputated and to use a prosthetic.

Determined to get his life back on track as soon as possible Sonny took the brave decision to have his destroyed leg removed.

At the time of the crash football-loving Sonny, who also worked part time at McDonalds, had been hoping to become a sports physio.

“It just put everything on hold for a period of time,” he said. “But I just set myself certain targets. At the time, at the age of 19, all I wanted to do was to get back to a normal life. I just wanted to get back to work, go for a drink with my friends, and get a girlfriend. I just wanted to get back to normal as quickly as possible.”

After the amputation Sonny left college and began working full time at McDonalds where he worked his way up to manager level, he then went on to hold managerial posts at EE and then the Royal Mail where he works now.

“No one treats us as if I’m disabled,” he said. “I use a prosthetic leg in my everyday life.”

But the one thing missing from Sonny’s life was the sports he loved.

And over the years his weight began to creep up.

“Over a period of 10 years I had put one about five stone, just through unhealthy eating and drinking” he explained. “I got to the point where I was just in a rut and tired all the time.

After weighing in at more than 15 stone, the dad-of-one began to look for teams sports he could play as an amputee and eventually joined Newcastle United Amputees, the only amputee football club in the North East.

“I played football before I lost my leg but it’s a whole new experience playing on crutches,” he said. “There’s people on the team who have lost their legs for a variety of reasons. Some were born without them, and one lad from Syria lost his leg in an explosion.”

Sonny quickly began to feel the health benefits of playing sport again and gradually lost around three tone of the weight he had put on.

But what began as a health kick also turned into a chance to chase his sporting dreams.

Sonny has since travelled abroad to play with the Newcastle United team and played against some of the best amputee players in the the world.

And after playing in a tournament in Nantwhich he was scouted for the England National Nxtgen team, meaning he will represnt his country on the pitch.

” it’s been a great experience.I have made friends and been able to travel all over the country playing football,” he said. “Playing sport was something I had really missed. It’s so competitive, it’s a really good sport and you can do it on a national level.”

Sonny is now trying to raise £750 to cover the costs associated with playing for the England team, which will help pay for kit, equipment and training facilities.

He has set up an online fundraising page and is asking for donations to help realise his dreams.

He added: “Hopefully I can raise the funds needed and also raise more awareness around amputee football and my progress. How many people are just sat in the house not knowing what’s out there.”

” Anything is appreciated, however little.”

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