After a horror accident saw Nicola Doran lose her leg, she found solace in an unusual hobby – and shares how that and the love from her son helped her on the road to recovery
Sitting at the top of the slide holding the son she adored, this was a dream moment for Nicola Doran. It had taken her 13 years to have Oliver, whose twin she’d lost during the pregnancy. Prior to that, she’d had several miscarriages and an ectopic pregnancy. She says: ”Amazingly, Oliver managed to hang on. He was such a little fighter. He was determined to stay with me. I’d been trying to have a baby since the age of 26, and there were times when I thought it was never going to happen for me.”
So, perched on the slide in a playground in July 2017, happily doing daft mummy things with her four-year-old boy, during a caravan holiday in County Wicklow, she couldn’t have felt happier. She says: “We had been having such fun together in the playground that day. I’d waited years to be able to do this with my child, and I was enjoying every moment with him”
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Woosh….pushing off from the top, they were belting down the slide, giggling as they went. But, in seconds, Nicola’s life changed forever. She says: “As I landed at the bottom of the slide, there was a hole in the ground. My left foot got stuck in it, while my body carried on travelling forwards. The pain ripped through me. My body had been propelled forwards, and both Oliver and I landed on the ground.
“I looked down and saw my left foot was facing the wrong way – by 180 degrees. It had snapped completely in two, and my leg bone was showing. I lay on the ground in shock. Luckily, the person who ran over to help just happened to be a paramedic. I was taken to hospital and I had to have major surgery the following day. I’d snapped my fibula and ankle. Oliver and I had to move in with my mum and dad and I had to give up my job as head of percussion and world music at the City of Belfast School of Music.
Divorced from Oliver’s dad, Nicola, 52, of Donaghadee, Northern Ireland, a single mum, battled chronic regional pain syndrome after the accident, which plagued her throughout the Covid pandemic. She says: “I’d had all the metal pins taken out of my leg, but a deep bone scan showed that my leg bone was rotting away.
“I’d taken up wild sea swimming which helped with the pain, but in November 2024, the doctor told me my only option was to have it amputated. It was horrific to be told such news. I knew that an amputation would be life changing. And how was I going to tell my son that I was going to lose my leg? He could see that I was getting worse as the months went by, but it was such a lot for him to deal with at such a young age. But he was amazingly supportive. He said to me ‘Mummy, if its going to make your life easier, we can get through anything.’ It was such a grown up thing for him to say.”
After her amputation in June 2025, Nicola had to spend five months in bed recovering. Inspired by Oliver’s encouraging words, however, she refused to be defeated. She says: “I had a really large open wound afterwards, which made recovery much longer.
“Oliver was singing at a Christmas concert in December and I was determined to start walking again in time for that. My goal was be able to walk into his concert and not be in a wheelchair.” So, fitted with a prosthetic leg, she threw everything into her rehabilitation and walked into Oliver’s Christmas show. She says: “It was an incredibly proud moment for me when I saw him on stage. He sang like an absolute angel.”
In January. Nicola also started swimming again. Later that month, she and her coach, Ger Kennedy, were invited to Greece to swim in the Greek Ice Championships. Nicola also decided to attempt to break her own Guinness World Record. She had achieved two Guinness World Records for the fastest ice mile and the longest distance by a female para swimmer in February last year. She’d also achieved the fastest long distance ice swim in September 2024.
But this was the first time she had attempted a world record post amputation. She says: “I was only slowly returning to swimming and I was still struggling with my body image after my amputation. We got the water temperature to 4.83C. My coach told me there was no pressure, but I wanted to take the challenge on, to say thank you to the many people I’m grateful to, who have supported me. It was mentally challenging, as you can’t be more exposed than you are in a bathing costume. ”It’s only human nature that people will look at your leg. And afterwards I have to go in a warm room and warm my body up slowly.
“But I wanted to show people that I’m ok. Since the surgery, a lot of things are a battle. What drives me is being a mum and being able to show Oliver that you can do anything if you put your mind to it.” And she has set Oliver a shining example. She says: “My love for my son has got me through the years of pain and the amputation. I’ll always be strong for his sake.”
What is ice swimming?
Ice swimming is an extreme winter sport involving swimming in open water, without a wetsuit, at temperatures near or below 5C, often requiring breaking through ice.
It requires high mental and physical fortitude. Swimmers can experience health benefits such as boosted endorphins and improved circulation.
It requires strict safety protocols to avoid hypothermia and needs careful and gradual acclimatisation.
The risks include cold water shock, which causes sudden rapid breathing, cold incapacitation , where muscles cease to function properly and hypothermia if exposed to the temperatures for too long.
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