A WINDOW cleaner who lost his arm in a horror road smash has designed his own wooden replacement.

Tim Madison says he now feels “whole again” for the first time since the crash near Eastbourne in February last year.

Doctors were forced to amputate Mr Madison’s left arm after the accident, leaving the 47-year-old “mourning” his lost limb for more than a year. So he hired private firm Pace Rehabilitation to help him come up with an “old school” new arm.

‘Different’ Mr Madison, who lives in Eastbourne, said: “Being a self-employed window cleaner, a keen runner and regular gym user, losing my arm completely turned my world upside-down.

“Pace told me I could basically have whatever I wanted as a replacement, which was brilliant. I know the wooden arm looks a little bit different but I’m really pleased with it.

“I wanted something that would look really origi- nal and it’s certainly a step forward on the road to recovery.”

Mr Madison said a more life-like replacement for his missing arm would have brought back bad memories. He said: “My arm has gone forever, so I wanted that memory as far away as possible. I’ll never really replace it, so I wanted something that looked more distinctive.

“Living close to Hastings, I fancied having the Bayeux tapestry on the arm, but decided that the design is a bit long, so wouldn’t really work.

“It was really difficult to decide but eventually I went for the wooden look.”

Paul Richardson, an orthotist at Pace Rehabilitation, said: “It was important to listen to what Tim wanted.

“Restoring his body image and providing some function were important to Tim, but he was not interested in a life-like prosthesis.

“Instead, he wanted something aesthetic that looked good on its own terms, which we were happy to oblige with.” For more information visit www.pacerehab.com.