THE LOSS of a lower leg and most of one lung has clearly proved no real handicap for a Yelverton golfer who this week has been selected to captain his country in an international golfing tournament.

Rob Johnson, aged 47 from Bickleigh, and a member of Yelverton Golf Club, led out the England team against Scotland and Wales last weekend in the British Amputee and Les Autres Sports Association Home International at the prestigious Celtic Manor Golf Club in Wales.

For Rob, a tutor to undergraduate medical students at the Peninsula Medical School, at Derriford, Plymouth and married to radiographer Lynda, it is a tremendous honour — one that he could never have foreseen when at the age of 18 doctors told him that they had to amputate his left lower leg below the knee to stop cancer spreading.

It was devastating news to a teenager, full of life, who loved his sports and was looking forward to life.

'Before I lost my leg I was playing football for Cornwall and scouts from professional clubs were coming to watch me but that, of course, all changed and at that age I thought it was the end of the world.'

After the operation Rob spent five years in remission and, newly wed to Lynda, was slowly beginning to re-adjust to life without his lower limb when ill health and cancer struck again.

'At that stage just before it happened Lynda and I were trying to plan and create a future for the years ahead. We had just got married and to be honest without her I don't think I could have coped with losing my lower leg. She was just amazing.'

Then aged 23, Rob was applying to train as a male nurse and a routine medical examination led to doctors detecting that malignant cancer cells had spread to one of his lungs and it had to be removed.

For someone who had gone through so much at such a young age Rob now looks back at that time more philosophically and said: 'Someone must have been smiling on me because if I didn't have that test then it might have been too late to catch it and I wouldn't be here now.'

Perhaps many people faced with a similar situation might have understandably been knocked back by such a double blow and gone into a depression, but it was then that Rob's sporting attitude to life, and the vital support from Lynda, began to kick in.

'If you are disabled people tend to put you into a little box and say you can't do this ... and you can't do that. I don't agree. When doctors told me I couldn't have children and then Lynda got pregnant it was amazing. (They couple have a son, Matthew, aged 19, who is studying for a degree at Royal Holloway University).

'Lynda becoming pregnant was the best thing that could have happen to me because when someone tells you you can't do something and you do it, you think ... wait a minute, I can do it. Then you start to think, what else can I do?

'Now nobody says to me, Rob, you can't do anything anymore because I know I certainly can if I put my mind to it.'

'When you are disabled nobody expects you to do anything and although people who sympathise are well intentioned, to be honest it is not helpful.'

When Rob lost his lower leg he had to make physical and mental adjustments over a long period of time which could be frustrating for someone determined to lead as normal life as possible.

'I had to learn to walk all over again, which was a big challenge,' says Rob, 'I get tired easily. It takes me 50 per cent more energy to walk with a prosthetic limb than I did with two legs.'

'Simple things, like taking a shower with one leg is hard to balance, especially with a slippery surface. Or driving a car — I had to get the height of the clutch adapted, it was really not easy.'

So why did Rob choose to take up golf as a sport, especially one where balance and walking long distances in all weathers is the par.

Rob replied: 'I enjoy the technique needed in playing golf and the fact that it is an individual sport where the only person who can really make you better is you. The whole ethos of the game is a solitary game and most of it is in your head.

'When I lost my leg I felt I didn't have control of my life but golf gave me back that control.'

'There's nothing better than sinking a 20 feet putt or smashing the ball straight down the middle of the fairway.

Rob already played the game and had a nine handicap before he joined Yelverton Golf Club, which he describes 'as the best club in the district.'

'I didn't tell anyone at the club about my disability because I just wanted to play golf on an equal basis with those without a disability. One hot summer's day though I wore my shorts which revealed I had a prosthetic lower leg and people went ... Oh my god?'

'Once I did they were really nice. There were a few jokes but it was in good spirit.'

Yelverton Golf Club secretary Steve West has great admiration for both Rob's talents as a golfer and his attitude to overcoming his disability.

He told the Times: 'Rob is a very humble man and his golf puts most abled bodied players to shame. He has a great love of the game and is so determined and a great example to us all.

'We have three disabled players here at Yelverton and the club really wants to encourage more disabled golfers to try the game.'

Recently the club had a Blind Golf Association match and it is hoped more events will be organised through the British Limbless Ex-Serviceman Men's Association.

Club professional Tim McSherry said: 'Over the last couple of years we have been working on developing Rob's swing. Rob is a quiet, unassuming man who is modest of his abilities and is a pleasure to work with as he is so keen to learn.

'Golf should not be a barrier and we want to encourage more people to learn to play. Rob is a great example to disabled golfers and it is great news that he has been honoured to captain his country.'

One day Rob tapped disabled golf into his computer and found the British Amputee and Les Autres Sports Association, which is part of the European Disabled Golfing Association and supported by the Professional Golf Association and the Royal and Ancient.

He filled out an application to join and had to provide a medical certificate to prove his disability; before long he was selected to represent his country

'BALASA is a fantastic organisation which has opened up golf to the disabled and I have played some wonderful courses in Britain and Europe.'

He was recently third in his category in a European Open and now has been selected to captain the England team in the Home International.

'It's a fantastic honour, I was really surprised when I found out. Strangely enough when I took up golf in my twenties I said to my family that I will play golf for my country and now it has happened. All I want to do now is to continue to do that.'

Rob was asked what advice he would give to a person who suddenly found themselves severely disabled due to illness or accident.

'I would say to anyone in that situation that it is not the end of life because you are going to be presented with a different set of opportunities and it will be your choice which ones to take and to make the most of them.'

When it comes to promoting sport for the disabled and golf in particular Rob is a keen advocate.

'I recommend golf to anyone who is disabled. I advise you go to your local club and see a professional. There are many other people exactly in your position, it really doesn't matter how disabled you are — just give it a go!'

For a man who plays golf with a prosthetic limb and one lung the very determined Rob Johnson seems to take it all in his stride!