Woman aiming to be Scotland's first double hand transplant patient gets set to tackle triathlon

Amputee Corinne Hutton, who runs the Finding Your Feet charity (Andrew Cawley / DC Thomson)

THE woman hoping to become Scotland’s first double hand transplant patient is about to tackle her first triathlon.

Corinne Hutton, 47, has just got new running blades to let her compete in the London Triathlon on July 22.

And the Lochwinnoch mum-of-one will take part in the event, the world’s biggest, just three months after having most of one of her lungs removed.

The operation, at the end of March, led to her having to be taken off the transplant list.

But she’s hoping to get a huge pre-triathlon boost by being put back on it by medics at the Leeds transplant centre before the race.

“My right lung had been badly damaged by the pneumonia from my illness,” said single mum Corinne, who lost her hands and feet to a near- fatal bout of septicaemia in 2013.

“I was prone to infections and that meant I either had to forget about the transplant for ever or have two-thirds of the lung removed.

“I want the hands, so it was an easy decision – but not an easy recovery.

“It was a horrible operation and recovery.

“People had told me but I didn’t believe them as to how bad it would be.

“It made me think that it was just a fraction of the rehab I’ll have to do for my hands.

“I won’t be able to wash myself or put my legs on or drive and all those are pretty massive for me.

“I started to doubt whether it was worth it and ask why I was putting myself through it. I had to reconsider and think of all the reasons I wanted the hands.

“But I’m very keen to get them and I’m not ready to back out yet.”

Gutsy Corinne, who has helped countless others through the charity she founded, Finding Your Feet, was enticed to take part in the triathlon by a friend.

She’s been putting in the hours in a pool, on a bike and on the blades.

“I think I’ve been a complete nutter in signing up for this,” laughed Corinne. “My lung’s not fully healed and it won’t be by the time I do the triathlon.

“My mum’s not too impressed at the thought of me swimming in the mucky Thames.

“I’ll be doing the swim without my legs and apparently there’s a ramp up out of the water, which I won’t manage.

“So I think I’m going to have to be lifted out on to a chair to I can get my legs on for the bike.”

The Super Sprint will see Corinne swim for 400 metres, cycle for 10k and run for 2k. She’s pushing so hard she’s already looking to move up to much greater distances.

Meanwhile, this week will see the launch of a book she has written, Finding Your Feet, about her remarkable story.

The foreword is written by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon who has met Corinne and says her “experience and attitude is truly inspiring”.

Corinne, whose son Rory is eight, said, “I always get a bit embarrassed when people say I’m inspirational as that’s not why I’m doing any of this.

“I just want to be the best I can. I wrote the book because I’m starting to forget things and I want everything I’ve gone through to be recorded for my Rory.”

The book launch will take place at Waterstones, Braehead Shopping Centre on Thursday.