Luke Tarrant Lost a Leg in 2024, but Is Still Dedicated to Extreme Sports — "I'm Still Alive"

It's enormously inspiring that British adventurer Luke Tarrant has not let losing a leg keep him from continuing to pursue extreme athletics. Luke, who is now 29, lost his leg in 2024, and he's spoken a lot about what he learned from the experience, and why it didn't fundamentally change his outlook.

As more people learn about Luke and his various adventures, some also want to know more about how he lost his leg. Here's what we know about how it happened and what he's said about it.

Luke was riding a motorcycle through Colombia on his way to Ecuador when he crashed close to close to Medellín. Luke was originally planning to travel on through South America and eventually to Antarctica.

He was an investment banker for five years before he began motorcycling across America, a journey lasting more than 10 months until his eventual crash.

"I don't remember it," he said told the BBC. "I had to get myself to the right hospital, and then things went a bit south after I had my left leg amputated. I managed to contract sepsis, had blood clots and fluid on my lungs — basically I was fighting for my life on a ventilator. I've just managed to pull through, trying not to lose any more limbs."

Even after that harrowing experience, Luke was still insistent that he could find silver linings.

"It's been a bit tough, but you've got to look on the bright side, I'm still alive," he said.

"Whatever happens next, I'm ready for it, I'm just going to keep on cracking on," he added at the time. "I'm determined, I want this to be a force for good."

In the year since his accident, Luke has continued to adventure around the world, often wearing a prosthetic leg as he completes the kind of feats that few two-legged people try.

Although Luke is still actively adventuring, he recently canceled a climb up a 16,000-foot mountain in Kyrgyzstan because of issues with fluid in his leg. Complications with draining the fluid meant that he couldn't wear his prosthetic leg, which also meant that the trip as a whole was over.

"I'm trying to wrap my head around it, but my trip is over," he wrote in a post on Instagram.

He also explained that he "had an abscess in my leg or a slight inflammation and I was advised by people in the U.K. that it was worth getting some fluid taken out of it."

He also said that he went to a local doctor, and even though the doctor was given clear instructions, his leg had been cut open. He explained that doctors had now told him he was at "massive risk" of infection and might not be able to wear the prosthetic for weeks.

"I had a whole month planned here and I'm returning tomorrow [Wednesday] to urgently go to hospital. I'm just disappointed," he added in the post.