A prosthetics expert who was left with one arm after a horror cycling accident is trying to get a pioneering new limb to carry on helping other amputees.

Jim Ashworth-Beaumont, who works at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, had his arm severed and he nearly died when he was dragged under a 40-tonne lorry while training for a triathlon last July.

The 55-year-old wants to use his ordeal to help others who have also lost limbs to rehabilitate both physically and mentally.

He is also hoping to be one of the first people in the UK to be fitted with a revolutionary bionic limb.

Describing the life-changing accident in South London, he said: “I remember pretty much everything about what happened up until the ambulance and helicopter arrived.

"I stopped at the lights and got in a tangle with an articulated lorry. As the lorry turned right the back started going to the left and pushed me off the road.

"I grabbed the leaver of the trailer and I could feel myself slipping underneath the vehicle. I got dragged along the road for about 9m.”

He continued: "It was only because a moped rider behind saw what was happening and sped up to the cab to tell the driver that he eventually stopped, otherwise I would be dead.

"So when I woke up in hospital I was confused because I could see all these people that I knew and thought 'this isn't right, you're not dead as well, something's gone wrong here'.

The prosthetics expert was left with spinal and rib fractures, his skin had been pulled off his front, which needed to be grafted from other areas of his body and he was placed in an induced coma.

Surviving the accident was only the start of Jim's battle. While in hospital he came close to death again through organ failure and sepsis and was in a critical care unit for around two-and-a-half months.

But now he is determined to get back to competing and has dreams of being a para-athlete and even one day of competing at the Paralympics in the future.

He is also hoping to raise £300,000 to pay for a functional bionic prosthesis in the US that is not available on the NHS.

His friends and family managed to raise £15,000 towards the prosthetic and the surgery to fit it, as the limb needs a titanium post to be attached into the end of his bone in his arm.

To donate to the appeal, visit: https://uk.gofundme.com/f/jim039s-greatest-challenge