A woman who had all four limbs amputated while battling a flesh eating bug has just got her driver’s licence.
Eight years ago Katy Hayes, from Kingwood, Texas, contracted a flesh-eating infection during the birth of her third child. Doctors were forced to amputate her arms above the elbow and her legs above the knee, but it hasn’t stopped her from living life to the fullest.
Fed up of relying on friends to drive her around, earlier this year Katy contacted Chad Strowmatt of Strowmatt Rehabilitation Services, who equipped her car with the precise modifications she’d need to control the vehicle.
For example, one issue was that her arm kept sliding off the steering wheel, so in a moment of genius Chad fitted a cup from a dollar store to help her gain leverage.
“Katy and I had been struggling that day with her arm on the wheel, and I decided that would be the perfect fit. It really took us over the top,” Strowmatt told Fox 10.
She also switches gears by tapping a touchscreen to swap from neutral to reverse.
It was the split from her husband in 2017 that encouraged Katy to learn to drive, as she realised she’d have less help with her day-to-day life.
“It was devastating and it really lit a fire under me because all of a sudden I had to do all the bills myself,” she explained.
“It is so awesome. Having a car is so exciting to me. you can still do something even if you lost so much.”
As well as passing her driving test, Katy is learning to walk with a new prosthetics and is writing a book about her incredible journey.
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