When Adam Smith fell sick with the flu two years ago, no-one could have predicted how significantly it would change his life.<\/p>\n
He developed sepsis while his immunity was down and spent three weeks in a coma, waking to learn he would need to have both arms and legs partially amputated.<\/p>\n
It was devastating for the then fit and healthy 50-year-old, who loved the gym, boxing, and hiking.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Adam Smith spent three weeks in an induced coma and woke to learn he would require four amputations. (Supplied: Adam Smith)<\/p>\n
After more than six months in hospital, most of that time in intensive care, it was his passion for fitness that helped him start to feel like himself again.<\/p>\n
“I became fixated on getting back to the gym because it was part of my identity,” Mr Smith said.<\/p>\n
“It was an unusual feeling \u2026 I came back [to the gym] in a wheelchair, I didn’t have prosthetics at that stage.”<\/p>\n
“But the minute I got in, friends I’d known for years were [there] and people were so encouraging that it instantly felt good again, I felt like me still.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Adam Smith is working with prosthetists to create different attachments to suit his needs. (ABC Central Coast: Shauna Foley)<\/p>\n
Little by little, Mr Smith regained his strength and, with the help of prostheses, is returning to the activities he loves.<\/p>\n
An unusual request<\/p>\n
Mr Smith’s list of prosthetic requests started small: a stylus to operate a digital camera and legs to go hiking.<\/p>\n
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But a new pair of feet that were more balanced and nimble opened up an unexpected opportunity to return to boxing.<\/p>\n
“I’d already wanted to get back into boxing, I missed it, but I wasn’t sure how I was going to do it,” he explained.<\/p>\n
“When I put the feet on, I instantly felt the possibility \u2026 I felt like I could probably move more like a boxer.”<\/p>\n
A self-confessed “80s guy”, Mr Smith spent part of his recovery watching clips from Rocky movies to motivate himself.<\/p>\n
He asked his prosthetist, David Thomas, whether boxing arms could be added to his prosthetic collection.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
David Thomas (right) helped design boxing arms for Adam Smith (left). (ABC Central Coast: Shauna Foley)<\/p>\n
“We had to look at something a little bit out of the ordinary for the boxing arms \u2026 it’s not something we do regularly,” Mr Thomas said.<\/p>\n
“They needed to to withstand a decent bit of impact because I know he can throw a decent punch.<\/p>\n
“We came up with a fairly decent solution for him to get back in the gym and throwing them into the bag.”<\/p>\n
With the prostheses proving successful, Mr Smith regularly incorporates boxing as part of his gym workout, which also includes pushing 365 kilograms on the leg press.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Adam Smith is back in the gym, hitting a 350 kilogram leg press with the help of his prostheses. (ABC Central Coast: Shauna Foley)<\/p>\n
“There’s still a long way to go but it’s been amazing. I get so excited to come and have a go,” Mr Smith said.Motivation to keep going<\/p>\n
After experiencing such a significant life change, Mr Smith, now 52, said it would have been easy to curl up in a corner and block out the world.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A prosthetic arm with a stylus pen attached has allowed Adam Smith to continue his photography passion. (ABC Central Coast: Shauna Foley)<\/p>\n
“I hit this point where I thought, ‘That’s it, I’ve lost everything,'” he said.<\/p>\n
“It felt really dark for a brief period of time but then I pictured myself miserable \u2026 with nobody wanting to talk to me because I’m such a miserable sook and I thought whatever I have to do to not be that guy, I’ll do that.<\/p>\n
“This is bad but that sounds way worse.”<\/p>\n
One by one, Mr Smith is working through a list of goals with energy and positivity.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The next prostheses on Adam Smith’s list are feet and hands to allow him to swim in the ocean. (ABC Central Coast: Shauna Foley)<\/p>\n
Swimming is his next focus.<\/p>\n
“For this summer, that’s my goal \u2026 get myself back in the ocean again,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I don’t care if when I start I have to wear a life jacket, I’ll figure it out.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Adam Smith fell sick with the flu two years ago, no-one could have predicted how significantly it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201422,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[39576,125783,64,63,802,125789,2806,125791,134,125786,125792,125785,125790,125784,110149,125788,125787],"class_list":["post-201421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-adam-smith","tag-amputee","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-arms","tag-central-coast","tag-david-thomas","tag-entertainment","tag-hiking","tag-prosthesis","tag-prosthetics","tag-prosthetist","tag-quadruple-amputee","tag-sepsis","tag-tuggerah","tag-wyong"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}