99% of the time Mr Stumpy behaves himself and I barely notice the fact that I'm wearing an artificial leg. Putting on the leg in the morning has become second nature, like putting on a pair of glasses.

Over the last few days, however, I've been reminded just how inconvenient it can be when things go wrong.

I've been giving my leg quite a hammering recently, what with trekking in Nepal and starting a new training programme in preparation for a few 10k runs and Mr Stumpy decided to take his revenge.

Over the course of last week an area the size of a two pound coin swelled up into an angry red lump which made it incredibly painful to walk. I'd flinch every time I put my weight through the prosthesis. On Friday the pain became so bad that I had to leave the leg off and use crutches. Needless to say, I was also forced to pause the training programme.

Thankfully, a combination of resting the leg and a course of antibiotics seems to be doing the trick. Mr Stumpy has returned to his usual calm state and I'm able to walk again.