How I get fit done
Dima Amin Aktaa, 28, lost her leg when her home in Syria was bombed. Now she’s training for the Paralympics
I was 18, and at home watching TV with my family when the bomb exploded in our living room. There were no warnings, and seconds later, the room was coated in black dust. I screamed for my mum, but it wasn’t until she picked me up that I saw the blood – and I realised I’d lost my left leg. Without thinking, I grabbed it, carrying it in my arms until we reached an ambulance, where we all sat in shocked silence.
I was in surgery the next day, as doctors tried to put my leg back together. But I was told I’d never walk again. Unless I could find the money for a prosthetic leg (there’s no NHS-style system in Syria), I’d be on crutches for the rest of my life.
Shortly after, we moved to Lebanon. While it was safer than Syria, I felt just as trapped. Schools wouldn’t accept my siblings and me, and our refugee status made us unemployable. One thing I could do was go to the gym.
Before the civil war began, in March 2011, I’d often go running, and I was determined to run again. With that goal in mind, I started to strengthen my remaining leg; first standing without crutches, then moving on to core and shoulder workouts twice a week.
We stayed in Lebanon for six years before moving to the UK in 2018. For the first time, under the care of the NHS, I had a prosthetic leg. It meant so much to me; I’d fall asleep cradling it in my arms.
Still, it took me some getting used to; at first, even walking on it was painful. Working with a physio helped me enormously, and in sessions three times a week, we focused on repositioning my hips and knees to relieve the pain in my back, while moves such as squats and calf raises built strength in my right leg and treadmill work helped to restore my balance.
Keen to progress even further, a few months later, I hired a personal trainer – we would train together twice a wee
