Being born with spina bifida left Simon Gambell with legs he simply couldn’t use. Life was a such a struggle for him, that at age 13 he decided he wanted them amputated. He spoke to chief reporter Hayley Robinson about his brave fight and how he doesn’t let his illness hold him back.

Despite being paralysed from the waist down since birth, the 41-year-old has refused to let his spina bifida stop him living life to the full.

"I’ve never let it get in my way," he said.

Callipers and sticks allowed Simon to get around in the early years but by the age of 13 he was having problems with his right leg which was making it difficult for the leg braces to be fitted. He was confined to a wheelchair by the age of 20.

Five years ago he made a decision that others struggled to understand. He asked to have both his legs amputated.

"I’d wanted them taken off since I was 13," he said. "They were a dead weight, always in the way, and I was getting deep vein thrombosis.

"My mum’s reaction was ‘don’t be silly’. Others thought I was mental."

His legs were removed during a three-hour operation at Medway Maritime Hospital, Gillingham, in August 2007.

With no feeling in the lower half of his body, it was done without anaesthetic, allowing him to complete a crossword throughout the procedure.

He returned home 48 hours later and on the same day attended a show with his beloved collection of reptiles.

"The only thing I had to get right was my balance," he said.

"At the show I was sitting in my wheelchair and I went to get something to the side of me, lent back too much and fell backwards – I couldn’t stop laughing."

Over the years he has done horse riding, wheelchair racing and basketball, abseiling, swimming and rock climbing.

He also holds medals from competing in the junior games for British Sports Association for the Disabled and the 6th National Les Autres Games.

He passed his driving test at 16 – he uses hand controls to drive and a remote control to operate chains that carry his folded chair up to a box on top of the vehicle.

In 1992 he married a woman from Faversham who he met while using a citizens’ band (CB) radio but they split in 2003.

"I never thought I would get married or that I would meet a girl," he said.

Over the years he has dealt with cruel onlookers, yet he is still willing to talk to strangers about his disability.

He said: "Children do stare and if they stare too long I explain.

"As far as I’m concerned I’m a normal person."

With no scans available, Simon’s mum Maralyn Goldfinch didn’t know there was anything wrong with her first child until he was born at Minster Hospital at 2am on December 26, 1969.

Simon spent the first two months of his life in hospital and Maralyn, now 59, was told he wouldn’t survive past the age of seven due to his condition.

Then at four months old he fell ill with pneumonia. Doctors didn’t think he’d make it through the night but he was back home within a fortnight.

Mother-of-three Maralyn said: "I knew then he was a fighter.

"I’m so proud of what he has achieved. There were times where I felt I had to be cruel to be kind to him so he could reach his full potential.

"He said he wanted an electric wheelchair when he was about 13 but I said that all the time he had his upper body strength there was no need for one. I feel if he had had one he might not have lived so long.

"Sometimes I look back and think ‘did I make the right decisions?’"

When Simon announced he wanted both his legs amputated it wasn’t easy for Maralyn, who lives in Chappell Way, Milton Regis.

She said: "We talked about it a lot and I got him to look at the pros and cons. I remember saying they acted as a balance for him.

"But in the end it has helped him in a lot of ways."