Last year, on an ordinary day at work, Joseph Bugeja lost the life he knew in a flash – literally. The 33-year-old suffered an electric shock on a construction site, sizzling away his limbs, barring a disturbingly mangled “miracle” arm.

My mind is still functioning and I want to use it to give my daughter everything she needs

Over a year later, his determination in the face of adversity has led him to walk on two prosthetic legs, manoeuvre with difficulty a hook instead of his missing left arm, and work on regaining some mobility in an almost lifeless right one – his only saving grace.

“I feel as though a bulldozer just trampled over my life,” Mr Bugeja says, prepared, nonetheless, to start from scratch.

The man whose work on trucks was also his passion has lost every form of independence. Beyond a short evening stroll in Birżebbuġa in the company of his father, and surfing the internet within the limits of his numb and contracted fingers – “I have to look at the mouse or I won’t realise I am touching it” – there is precious little he can accomplish on his own.

Tears as Joseph recalls the accident. Right: Joseph Bugeja – a strong spirit in a beleaguered body – struggles to use his hook. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Mr Bugeja may now be able to walk to the toilet when he wakes up in the morning – but the frustrating part is that he cannot put on his prosthetic legs alone to get there.

Following the accident that happened on April 30, 2011, and nine months of gruelling recovery, Mr Bugeja had to return to his parents’ home, due to marital issues that have added insult to his injury, leaving him having to cope also with the sadness of a broken family and the painful absence of his four-year-old daughter.

Sitting in his mother Laura’s kitchen, Mr Bugeja only breaks down when he is asked what he wishes for most. His reply is surprisingly not connected to his health:

“My mind is still functioning and I want to use it to give my daughter everything she needs,” he cries.

Mr Bugeja is also eternally grateful to his parents and his sister’s family.

He is looking forward to moving into the Birżebbuġa ground-floor flat the Housing Authority has allocated him and is currently being completed.

It is another step in the direction of the independence Mr Bugeja is fighting for – also through the rehabilitation he is undergoing twice weekly.

Despite being right-handed, he has learnt to write with the hook on his left – a tiring exercise as the mechanics involve straps that dig into his skin.

Few survive an electric shock, particularly of that magnitude, resulting from a huge cable in the road, and Bugeja knows he is lucky to be alive.

He recalls remaining conscious after the accident and worrying about his parents’ reaction when giving his particulars in the ambulance. He remembers his fingers fused together and being unable to open them, and the excruciating pain when his clothes were removed.

The next thing he knew, he awoke two weeks later to find half his body missing. Both legs were amputated – one from above the knee and the other below – and until he adjusts to his prosthetic limbs, he can only walk for a maximum of 45 minutes straight without irritation.

His right arm was a write-off, hanging on a thread, and was saved in the UK in a 14-hour operation followed by another 10 hours the next day. It remains extremely delicate. In fact, he is careful when walking, knowing a fall on his hand could destroy the progress he has achieved.

To anyone else, being able to lift the index finger slightly and just about hold a fork to eat slowly, or a glass as long as it has a narrow stem, would not be considered milestones – the way Mr Bugeja looks at them.

But for him, he has come a long way from being unable to turn his head due to tight skin, and from having fingers that were permanently stretched open and useless.

While some of them are numb, the others are overly sensitive, which he considers worse. But at least, in April, he underwent surgery to close them and get a grip.

Mr Bugeja was supposed to live for two days – even his kidneys had failed – but “I regained my health”, following a stint at Mater Dei, in the UK, where he spent four months, and rehabilitation at Karin Grech Hospital.

His disfigured body is riddled with scars – the symbols of his survival – and he has more operations lined up to reduce the massive swelling on his left hand and fix his mutilated skin.

The “pure xlukkaj” knows that when he moves to his own flat, he would need 24/7 assistance, among other things, but he also knows he is not totally alone in his struggle.

Swim Aid propelled by amputee

The charity Swim Aid, which is in the process of becoming a registered NGO, is raising funds to get Mr Bugeja a state-of-the-art prosthetic arm to replace the hook that only allows him restricted movement.

Six men will be swimming 37 km around Gozo, their driving force being the improvement of Mr Bugeja’s life as an added incentive to undertake the major feat.

Simon Zammit, who circled Gozo with Sammy Attard to raise funds for charity last year, has decided to try “change someone’s life on an annual basis” through swimming.

This time, they are being joined on the long-distance open-water swim by Kurt Arrigo, Gilbert Bartolo, Robert Demicoli and Josef Cardona.

Mr Bugeja was identified as Swim Aid’s beneficiary by TV presenter and producer Joseph Chetcuti, who will be featuring him in the upcoming season’s Arani Issa programme.

A foreign specialist has given the green light for Mr Bugeja to be fitted with an arm that would be connected to his nerves and also requires psychological preparation.

Donations can be made on the Swim Aid Facebook page, through its PayPal account http://goo.gl/kzUVA , or via HSBC account number 006 207609 001.