Fix boot or take my leg

Denise Parkinson relies upon her specially made boots, which are fitted with callipers - leg braces - to get around.

When a strap broke on one of the boots earlier this year, Denise went to Dewsbury and District Hospital to send it off for repair. But when it was returned in July the boot was not fixed properly.

She gave it back and is still waiting for it to be returned.

“32 years I’ve had them, and 32 years they’ve not been able to get them right,” she said. “I’d rather they just chop my leg off and be done with it.

“I’m not one to get down about things, but this is really depressing me.”

Denise, 67, is now using a spare pair of boots, but worries if something goes wrong with them she will be left bedridden.

And things are not right with her spare pair, as Denise said she has to fit the callipers onto the boots with a hammer.

“I’ve had to take a hammer with my on holiday and I bet they thought I was a terrorist!

“I just can’t get the calliper in without braying it with a hammer.”

Denise said she used to be able to walk from her home in Church Road, Birstall, to Wilton, but doesn’t want to risk it any more in case the calliper falls out.

She said: “As far as I know all they have to do is put one strap on one boot.

“To take three months to do it is more than terrible, it’s disgusting.”

Angie Watson, Chief Operating Officer at The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We have been experiencing an unexpectedly high level of demand in the department that manages Orthotic appliances for our Dewsbury patients and to address this we have arranged additional appointments.

“I am sorry that Ms Parkinson hadn’t been made aware of this. We will be in contact with her shortly to re-schedule her next appointment for an earlier date at her convenience.”