BRAVE Ken Sroka has returned home after having his leg amputated following a hit and run accident.

Police are still trying to trace the callous driver two months after the accident happened as the 76-year-old was returning to his Ennerdale Road home in Leigh.

Mr Sroka -- christened Kazimierz but known as Ken -- was travelling towards Butts Bridge on the morning of Saturday, January 19 on his Honda 90 Cub step-through commuter bike when a parked car pulled out and hit him at speed near the Chapel Street-Mill Lane junction.

His right leg was crushed in the collision, leaving doctors with no option but to amputate it from below the knee. Infection complications meant Mr Sroka then needed further amputation above the knee.

The brave pensioner has just returned home from the Royal Bolton Hospital and now faces months of physiotherapy to build-up the strength in his leg.

Although determined not to le it get him down, Mr Sroka is finding adapting to his loss both daunting and frustrating. Everyday tasks that he took for granted, such as going up and down stairs, having a bath or using the toilet have become obstacles.

He said: "I hate being a prisoner in my own home. It hurts me to have to depend on other people all the time. I used to be able to do anything I wanted, but now I can't even poke the coal on the fire."

Artificial leg

On Monday he went to be fitted for an artificial leg and although looking forward to the extra freedom it will allow him, is frightened about adjusting to yet another situation.

His son Kevin, thrilled to have his dad back home, said: "It's great to have him home. He has taken everything so well and the nurses have been impressed with his attitude. He's a fighter! In a couple of months he'll be running about. We are hoping to go to America in summer, we go every year to visit relatives, so that's something to aim for."

Mr Sroka manages to continue smiling despite such a traumatic experience, but he struggles to understand how someone could drive away from such a severe accident without a second thought.

"I don't remember landing after the collision. I just remember lying there in shock and seeing all the sky lit up with lights. I knew then that my leg was trapped. I don't know how a person could live with what they have done to me. I was only travelling at 18 mph, it was as if they did it on purpose."

Police are still searching for the car and driver involved in the accident. Evidence at the scene suggests the vehicle was a silver VW Golf, no older than 1998. Anyone with information is asked to call Leigh Police on 0161 856 7273.