A woman had to learn to walk again after a freak e-scooter accident - and is now running half marathons and climbing mountains.<br /><br />Talia Lazarus, 27, was on her way to met a friend for coffee when she collided with a bus in 2021.<br /><br />She shattered her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her left leg and tore cartilage in her knee.<br /><br />Her injuries were so bad she couldn't walk for a year and had to quit her job at an events company.<br /><br />But, two years on and Talia, from Elstree, Herts., is thriving.<br /><br />Having learnt to walk again, she has since completed a half marathon and climbed Snowdon's 3,560ft peak.<br /><br />Talia said: “I never thought I'd have to relearn how to walk at 25. But now, I'm fitter than ever. <br /><br />“I put my body through unimaginable challenges - and I think our minds are a lot stronger than we realise.”<br /><br />Talia collided with the bus on August 23, 2021 while riding an e-scooter down a hill.<br /><br />She tried to fit through a gap between the pavement and a moving bus - which closed in on her and she was knocked into the air. <br /><br />Passers-by grabbed her when she hit the ground and pulled her onto the pavement.<br /><br />She said: “I was on the way to meet a friend for a coffee. I was coming down a hill on the road, and I wasn’t really focusing.<br /><br />“There was a pavement, a gap and then the bus.<br /><br />"I saw someone cycling through the gap - and I thought, ‘this is much wider than me, I can go through, too.’ <br /><br />“I freaked out, lost control and veered into the kerb. <br /><br />“I tried to stop the scooter by putting my left leg down, but I just picked up more and more speed - and the bus flung me into the air. <br /><br />“I was screaming - I saw the state of my leg, and I knew it was sinister.”<br /><br />Once the paramedics arrived, they asked Talia whether she would be able to walk to the ambulance. <br /><br />She tried to put one foot in the other - but her “left leg went one way, and right one the other like cooked spaghetti.”<br /><br />An ambulance took her to London Bridge Hospital, where an MRI revealed she’d completely torn her ACL. <br /><br />Talia faced sessions of physiotherapy, as well as two major surgeries to reconstruct the ligament.<br /><br />She said: “I lost all independence. Not only could I not walk, I was told by surgeons I wasn’t allowed to."<br /><br />Talia’s total recovery time was one year and three months - and started in short bursts, like hopping from the sofa to the sink with the aid of crutches. <br /><br />In December 2022, she decided on a whim to sign up for a half marathon, which would take place over a year later. <br /><br />She said: “After my surgeries, I slowly got stronger, and my walking gradually got better.<br /><br />"And once the physio okayed me to start training for the marathon, I decided to accept the challenge.<br /><br />“I started by setting small personal bests, and just pushing myself - then I’d increase them, like running 13km. <br /><br />“Then I started challenging myself to run longer lengths - sometimes my body wouldn’t want to do it, but my mind would, so we did.”<br /><br />On April 2, 2023, Talia completed her half marathon.<br /><br />And she climbed Mount Snowdon on August 23, 2023 - near to the second anniversary of her accident. <br /><br />As well as her physical injuries, she pushed herself to overcome the psychological side effects of her accident. <br /><br />She said: “The day after the accident, I remember seeing a bus drive by - all of a sudden, I started to breathe heavily.<br /><br />“Within the hour, I was having a full-blown panic attack, with numb legs, arms and jaw. I thought I was having a stroke. <br /><br />“I went back to hospital, and the very same doctor who treated me the day before was on reception - he took one look at me and said, ‘you’re having a panic attack’. <br /><br />“I was never diagnosed with PTSD - but I did get straight onto the phone with a therapist, knowing I wanted to nip it in the bud.”<br /><br />Talia says she feels “grateful” for the accident, as it encouraged her to change her life. <br /><br />She now works as a sports presenter for her own podcast. <br /><br />Having taken up marathon-running and climbing, she says she’s “fitter than ever”, and has even “taken her mask off” when it comes to her hobbies, like comic books.
