A sporty young man who lost a leg in an horrific motorbike accident is on a mission to buy a hi-tech artificial limb so he can get back to doing what he loves.

James Hazel was just 21 when he crashed on the A2.

He was planning to go to college and university, but in a brief moment his life changed forever when he was smashed into by four vehicles.

James, of Knockhall Road, Greenhithe, joined the carriageway behind a tractor pulling a large trailer and went to overtake but didn’t gauge how slow it was travelling.

As he looked over his shoulder to check his blind spot, he rammed into the back of the trailer and ricocheted into the next lane and straight into the path of an oncoming lorry. The bike spun into the next lane where he collided with a car, which propelled him into the outside lane and into a van.

Lucky to be alive, he was taken to King’s hospital and put into a coma for a week.

Doctors tried to save his leg but after losing blood and having to be resuscitated three times, they amputated.

James, who before the accident was a keen player at Wellcome Dartford Hockey Club, also broke his other leg, as well as various other bones.

“When I woke up I was on a lot of morphine, and was very confused when I realised my leg was gone. It was a big shock.

“I surprised myself with how quickly I came to terms with it. I knew how lucky I was to be alive but it was hard and frustrating; I was in a wheelchair for months.”

James rarely uses his NHS leg because it does not support any weight when bent so is useless on slopes, steps or uneven ground. He generally gets by on crutches.

While he has not let his amputation hold him back – last summer James and girlfriend Daisy Morris travelled through France and Spain, exploring and teaching English – at 24, James is restless with its limitations and desperate to get back a bit of normality.

A better prosthetic is going to cost him a whopping £70,000.

“I used to be a skiing instructor in Austria, and I would love to be able to ski again, and this leg would just make my life so much easier day to day.”

He is planning to host a series of fundraisers, including obstacle races, to get the money and he added: “I’m hoping it will only take two years, but it will make such a difference to my life even if it took me 10 years to get there, I’d be over the moon.”

As far as he can, James has embraced life without his leg.

He said: “While I was in hospital I got hundreds of messages from people which really helped to get me through it.

“Somebody said to me ‘everything will be different for you now, but you can still do what you want to do, you’ll just have to find new ways of doing it, and ways around things’. It was quite hard to hear, because I didn’t want things to change.

“But you’ve just got to keep motivated. Some people give up, but I wanted to keep going.”

He had planned to study psychology at university but, after the accident, he went back to his job with an insurance firm.

He has also broadened his horizons with sports.

“I am trying to get into other things. I tried sitting volleyball, but it wasn’t really my thing, and I’d like to give wheelchair rugby a go, there’s a club in Gravesend.

“I would eventually like to get back on my bike, but my family have other ideas. I think there’s a compromise; I’d like to be able to take it out on the track again, even if it means staying off the roads.”

The Genium X3 is the world’s most technologically advanced microprocessor controlled prosthetic leg, designed for people to have a natural gait but it comes with a hefty price tag of £70,000.

With it people can run, walk backwards, step over obstacles and play sports.

Emma Gillespie from Ottobock which makes the leg said: “[With it] James will be able to live life how he wants without having to think about stumbles and falls no matter his pace or whether he is going up or down steps or an incline.”

You can sponsor James at GoFundMe and stay up to date with his progress on Twitter at @jamesmhazel