A CHARITY set up to support amputees has awarded its annual chAMP title to an electrician who lost both hands and feet after developing sepsis.

Ian Retalic was one of more than 70 nominees for this year’s event run by Finding Your Feet.

The Paisley-based charity was set up by amputee and former Glasgow Times Scotswoman of the Year Dr Corinne Hutton.

Corinne, who lives in Lochwinnoch with her son Rory, also lost her hands and feet to sepsis after contracting pneumonia.

Realising very little support existed for people who have experienced limb loss, she set up Finding Your Feet to help reduce the social isolation many feel as a result of amputation. The charity has since raised more than £1.2m, and has developed a range of support networks and activities for its members, called Troopers, and their families, at the time they need it most.

In addition, Corinne has set four world records, including becoming the first female quadruple amputee to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. In 2018, she became the first Scottish double hand transplant recipient.

Corinne Hutton. Pic: Gordon Terris

Corinne Hutton. Pic: Gordon Terris

Corinne said: “All of the nominees this year have fought hard to get their lives back together and it’s so hard to select just one.

“Ian’s illness caused so many amputations and I personally know the huge effort it takes every day to get to back to a very basic quality of health and life.

“Ian did that while the world was fighting COVID.”

She added: “His family and friends couldn’t visit and support him as mine did. That takes an extraordinary amount of inner strength and determination.

“He’s such a nice bloke too - no anger or bitterness. I have so much respect for his journey so far and how much he’s achieved against the odds.”

Ian, who lives in Aberdeenshire with his wife Caroline and daughter Sophie, three, said he was ‘very surprised but honoured’ to receive the chAMP award.

“Corinne opened my eyes to the support that is out there for amputees and what she has achieved is incredible,” he said.

Ian developed Group A streptococcus last March after cutting his hand at work.

“It was a huge shock - we thought it was Covid at first,” he says. “I became very unwell and next thing I knew I was in hospital.

“It sounds strange to say, but I took the news I needed the amputations quite well. I understood the exchange that had to be made, the choice between losing my limbs and saving my life.”

He added: “My wife Caroline found out about Corinne and we talked over Zoom and once restrictions had eased, managed to meet in Glasgow.

“She has walked the walk, she understood how life would change for me. What she has achieved in such a short time with building up a network of amputees is incredible.

He added with a smile: “Receiving the award via a Zoom video call was fantastic – like the internet version of a hug.”