RUGBY union stalwart John "Tubby" Jekyll has ordered both of his legs be amputated below the knees after medical experts told him he would never walk again.
The former Cairns and District Rugby Union president and Wanderers club founder is recovering in Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital, where he said he was feeling "great" after three-and-a-half hours of surgery.
Mr Jekyll may have lost his legs but not his trademark sense of humour.
"I reckon that having the legs amputated means I’ve lost at least 10kg," he quipped, cheekily adding that his new email address is tubbyonwheels@bigpond.com.
The 63-year-old decided late last year to have his "useless" legs amputated after he was told by specialists he would never regain full use of them.
"No one tried to talk me out of it and no one tried to talk me into it either. It was my decision and after talking to a lot of doctors I decided to have the operation," he said.
Mr Jekyll has been wheelchair-bound and living at a Brighton nursing home for the past four years, needing full-time care.
He was rushed by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to Brisbane five years ago after nearly dying in Cairns when an infection attacked his spinal cord.
He had emergency surgery to have two vertebrae replaced.
"I was in PA in recovery stage when I had a relapse and no one knew what caused it. I had a lot of spasms and they didn't have a clue," he said.
Mr Jekyll said he was on high doses of painkillers and something then affected the muscles in his legs.
"They somehow got damaged and I've never been able to bend them since," he said.
In 2006, the rugby union and Edge Hill bowls communities held a fundraiser to collect more than $5500 for a wheelchair. The rugby fraternity has also bought him a laptop computer.
After several months in the hospital's spinal injury unit Mr Jekyll was transferred to a nursing home where he has lived ever since.
Mr Jekyll needs a nurse and a hoist to lift him out of bed, to go to the toilet and to have a shower.
"I couldn't even get into a motor car because my legs always stuck out straight," he said.
"I couldn't go to the toilet by myself and I said: 'I can't live like this'."
Mr Jekyll decided to improve the quality of life and his mobility by having his legs amputated below the knee. He said he would probably be in residential care for the rest of his life.
"But I'll be more self-reliant and mobile. I will be able to go and see more rugby union games and get about more," he said.
Mr Jekyll is credited with reviving rugby union in Cairns during the mid-1970s. He was the inaugural president of the reformed Cairns and District Rugby Union in 1979 and founded and coached the Wanderers club. He is a life member of both organisations.
He has been involved in the rugby union referees association, the rugby union judicial committee and golden oldies tournaments. He was a member of the Edge Hill Memorial Bowls Club.
Mr Jekyll worked for the Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing until his illness.
