Losing a leg in a motorcycle accident never dented Daniel Everett's ambition to follow his father into the electrical trade.

ELECTRICIAN

Determination helps Daniel beats the odds

Just four months after Daniel Everett started his apprenticeship as a trainee electrician he had a moped accident which resulted in the amputation of his leg from above the knee.

Daniel, 18, from Sheldon, was in hospital for two weeks in December 2002.

The following January, he got his first prosthetic leg and by March, he had returned to work
“I was eager to return to work as quickly as possible because I wanted to prove that I was the same person as before,” he said.

“I’m determined to lead a normal life. Physically this has been very challenging for me but I want show I can do it.”

Daniel’s father is an electrician and as he grew up he’d always thought he might like to take up the same career.

“I used to go out on jobs with my dad when I was about 11 or 12,” he remembered. “It always looked interesting.”

Daniel left school at 16 with 11 GCSEs. Maths, English and the sciences were the preferred qualifications for becoming an electrician.

“I wanted a job where I could start earning quickly and so I started writing to companies and was offered an apprenticeship at Bloom and Wake in Wisbech,” he said.

Daniel is now in his third year of the apprenticeship and has achieved his NVQ Level II.

He studies at the College of West Anglia. After completing four years he will be a fully qualified electrician and after a further two years, and being tested, he should be able to become “approved”.

Since his accident, Daniel has had to adapt on many different levels and find ways around the day-to-day duties that are now more demanding of him.

He finds certain tasks harder than others, for example, repeatedly going up and down ladders is difficult and painful, yet he has been determined not to give up.

“The company have offered me office work but I would rather be out and about doing something practical,” said Daniel.

He does, however, help out at Bloom and Wake with new apprentices, giving them the benefit of his experience of the programme.

Coral Leggett, Daniel’s training advisor at the College of West Anglia, said: “Daniel has blossomed to become a very focused young man.

“His determination is inspiring. He has an exemplary attitude and I believe he will make a first class electrician.”