Channel 5's The Trials of Heather Mills: What happened in horror accident that resulted in leg amputation

Life changed forever for Heather Mills when she lost part of her leg in a horror accident at the age of 25. The life of the former model, ex-wife of The Beatles star Paul McCartney, is being examined in a new 90-minute programme for Channel 5. The Trials of Heather Mills will air on the channel at 9pm on Wednesday (April 19).

Heather, now 55, was walking through Kensington, London in August 1993 with her then-boyfriend, banker Raffaele Mincione, when disaster struck. As the pair crossed Kensington Road, she was knocked down by a police motorcycle responding to an emergency call.

She suffered crushed ribs, a punctured lung and serious injuries to her left leg, meaning it had to be amputated six inches below the knee. Heather also needed a metal plate in her pelvis and, two months following the accident, required a second operation to further shorten her leg.

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She says adopting a vegan lifestyle saved her knee and helped her leg heal. She told The Mirror in 2018: “I didn’t go vegan because I was ­interested in animals or the planet. I had no idea. I was 25, lost my leg, I had infections which kept spreading up it, I was on antibiotics and spent months in hospital.

"And then my friend said ‘you have to go vegan if you’re going to get out of this hospital." Heather was cynical at first, but decided to give it a try, adding: "Literally in 10 days my whole leg healed, so it saved my knee.”

Heather was quickly launched into the spotlight following the accident - and her recovery experience prompted her to become a campaigner. Her prosthetic leg had to been changed regularly as her stump healed, which inspired the glamour model to push for discarded