Caroline Rutley-Frayne

Following a devastating loss and life-changing injuries, Caroline Rutley-Frayne has been determined to live her life to the fullest, raising money for charity, spending time with her family and giving back to others by being an active member of her community.

Before her accident, Caroline lived a busy and active life. Alongside her husband, she worked at Devon Wildlife Trust, ran a business buying, selling and repairing computers, and regularly helped organise off-road motorsport events, including operating transponder timing systems.

In November 2008, Caroline and her husband Simon were riding together on his motorbike when they were hit by a dangerous driver on the way to work. Tragically, Simon lost his life and the crash resulted in Caroline losing her right arm and leg.

Caroline spent two months in hospital following the accident. Her right leg was amputated immediately, while extensive nerve damage later led to the elective amputation of her right arm. During her recovery, she worked closely with a psychologist to come to terms with both the loss of her husband and her amputations, helping her rebuild her confidence and independence.

After leaving hospital, Caroline spent six months in a wheelchair before receiving her first prosthetic leg. However, instability and ongoing socket-fit problems led to repeated falls and limited her mobility. “I wanted to walk so badly but I just kept falling over,” she says.

“I decided there must be a better solution” explains Caroline reflecting on her search for a way to regain her active lifestyle. Following her initial meetings with Matthew Hughes, prosthetist and Managing Director at Dorset Orthopaedic, Caroline received a more comfortable and better-fitting socket. She also began using an Ottobock C-Leg, which provided greater stability when walking.

She was later offered a trial for an Ottobock Genium prosthetic leg which, like the C-Leg offers the wearer stability and confidence when walking and standing: “Once I had tried it, I felt like I never wanted to come off it” she explains.

Whilst Caroline was impressed by the capabilities of the Genium prosthetic leg, she felt that socket use was still limiting how far she could walk. Looking for an alternative option, she began exploring osseointegration. “I met a guy from Sweden who had the procedure and I was really jealous that he could so easily put his leg on and take it off.”

After extensive research, Caroline attended a limb loss conference in the USA in 2015, where she learned more about the procedure from specialists including the team at Osseointegration Australia. Convinced it was the right option for her, she travelled to Australia just a few months later to undergo surgery with one of the world's leading surgeons in the field. Caroline documented the experience through a video blog and spent a month recovering before returning to the UK.

Eleven years on from the successful procedure, Caroline continues to visit Dorset Orthopaedic for regular check-ups and is able to walk for miles at a time thanks to her Osseointegration and new Genium Bionic Prosthetic System. She enjoys a range of activities from hiking in the countryside, working on the Ranch she runs with her daughter, to giving back to her community as a trustee at a local pre-school. She also enjoys spending time with her family, including her five grandchildren.

Four months after surgery, Caroline was walking around two miles a day and had stopped relying on a walking stick. Around the same time, she completed a local sponsored 10km charity walk, showcasing her progression and belief that she could achieve far more than she had once thought possible.

Another way that Caroline gave back was by raising money for charity. Throughout 2017 she hiked the South West Coast Path Walk which stretches over 630 miles of the UK coastline from Minehead to Poole for Force Cancer Charity and Self Harm UK. Before the loss of her arm and leg she had been an active person, but for around 7 years after the accident she had been finding it difficult to get around. This meant that she had to slowly build up her fitness and just one year after her surgery, she was amazed to find she was able to walk 10k: “I can now walk for miles; the most I have ever walked in one day is 16 miles and I probably could have walked a little bit more!”

Caroline's passion for hiking also led her to the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Since first completing part of the famous pilgrimage route, she has returned seven times to walk different sections.

Reflecting on her journey, Caroline believes that maintaining a positive attitude is key. “You can’t change what’s happened, so you can only try to be the best that you can be. I have never stopped looking for better.”

She encourages other amputees to set realistic goals and focus on steady progress rather than putting themselves under pressure. “What I have done is set myself a goal and then break it down into smaller and more manageable sections. After my initial operation I wanted to do a 10k walk but I had to train gradually. Think big and build yourself up bit by bit.”

While she recognises that osseointegration may not be the right solution for everyone, Caroline believes it has transformed her own mobility. “Without the osseointegration I wouldn’t be doing this walk, there’s no way. Other people would be able to do it with sockets, but I just couldn’t imagine that for myself. It’s still tough but I am able to walk further than I ever imagined I could after the crash.”

Although people often describe her as inspirational, Caroline sees things differently. “I don’t see myself in that way, but if people can take something from what I am doing and it does inspire them to achieve more, then I am OK with that.”