Lee Spencer is a former Royal Marine who had his leg amputated after he was struck by debris while helping a motorist. He is also the world’s only physically disabled person to hold the world record in an endurance event.
Born in Dagenham, Lee had a fulfilling 24-year career as a Royal Marine Commando, completing numerous operational tours of Afghanistan, Iraq and NI.
In January 2014, he stopped to help at a scene of a motorway crash when he was struck by an engine block when another car crashed into the scene.
His right leg was severed in the impact, and while he was rushed to hospital for urgent treatment, his medical team was unable to save his leg and he underwent an amputation. In the weeks that followed he also underwent numerous surgeries to reconstruct his left leg, which was also seriously injured.
He was later medically discharged from the Marines.
After the incident Lee contacted UNISON for advice, which he had access to through his wife’s membership of the union, and instructed Thompsons Solicitors for legal support. The firm was able to secure compensation including access to interim payments that provided him with the necessary aids, equipment, adaptations, and prosthetics needed to help support his recovery journey.
Now, Lee dedicates his time to inspiring others to overcome the challenges they face in life, delivering motivational talks to a range of audiences from charity gala dinners to business conferences and elite sports teams.
He was even asked to tell his incredible story to the senior England men’s football team in their pre-World Cup training camp.
Commenting on his ordeal and his recovery, Lee said: “Having access to legal support following the incident was vital to my recovery. The interim payments paid for aids and equipment, as well as adaptations to my home, which helped make my life easier and which I certainly wouldn’t have been able to pay for on my own.
“That enabled me to concentrate on the physical challenges that go hand in hand with rehabilitation and get to where I am today.”
Following the incident in 2014 Lee has gone on to complete a number of challenges, including travelling 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean in just a rowing boat as part of the world’s first physically disabled crew of four to row any ocean.
He also became the world’s first physically disabled person to row from mainland Europe to mainland South America solo and unsupported and is the only disabled person to break and hold a world record in an endurance event.
