Boston bombing survivor with prosthetic leg that fits 4-inch stilettos campaigns for better access to 'high-definition' replacement limbs



Heather Abbott, 38, was cheering on Boston Marathon runners in April when she was badly injured in the bombing

She was forced to have most of her left leg amputated



Miss Abbott now possesses a 'high-definition' realistic silicone leg that can be worn with high heels

The cost of her leg was around $50,000 and she is now campaigning for better access to prosthetics for all amputees



Heather Abbott, described by friends as a 'professional heel-wearer', has revealed her four amazing, lifelike prosthetic legs - including one to accommodate her beloved four-inch stilettos.



Miss Abbott, 38, lost her left leg after she was badly injured by a bomb while cheering on Boston Marathon runners in April.

She is now calling for the 'high-definition' silicone legs, which cost around $50,000 each, to be made available to more amputees as she credits the prosthetic as being an essential part of her physical and psychological recovery.

Scroll down for video

Walking tall: Boston bombing survivor Heather Abbott strides down the street in four-inch stilettos using one of her four 'high-definition' prosthetic legs

Heather Abbott, whose left leg had to be amputated following the Boston Marathon bombing, wearing her new prosthetic in sparkly, 4-inch stilettos

Heather's prosthetic leg is a similar flesh tone as her own and is remarkably detailed including freckles and wrinkles on the heel She told CNN: 'Some of the more cosmetic concerns I had, I wasn't vocal about at the time because they seemed more insignificant.

'Asking if I was going to be able to wear a dress again didn't seem like an appropriate question.' Miss Abbott now has four prosthetic legs - one to wear in the shower and for going in the ocean so she can resume her hobby of paddle boarding. She also has one for running, one for wearing flat shoes and the other for her beloved heels.

The legs are made to look as close to Heather's leg as possible - from similar flesh tone to freckles and wrinkles on the heel.

The legs were paid for through a combination of Heather's health insurance and donations from supporters. The legs will need to be replaced every three to five years.

On the video clip, a stylish Heather walks down the street wearing sparkly stilettos with peep-toed 4-inch spiked heels that displayed painted red nails on both feet. It is almost impossible to tell just by looking that the prosthetic is not real.

Friends call Boston Marathon survivor Heather Abbott ' a professional heel wearer'. A 'high-definition' prosthetic leg has now once again allowed her to wear her beloved stilettos

Heather Abbott in hospital during the early stages of her recovery after she lost her left leg in the Boston Marathon bombing

Miss Abbott of Newport, Rhode Island, was going in to the Forum restaurant in Boston with friends on April 15 when one of two bombs went off a short distance away. Her left leg was badly hurt and she had to make the difficult decision to amputate it below the knee.

'One of my biggest concerns was, what it was going to look like,' she has said. Then she met a woman at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston who had a similar leg and could wear high heels.

'That's what made me know it was going to be OK,' she said.

The prosthetics came from Next Step Bionics and Prosthetics, a Manchester, New Hampshire-based company with offices in Warwick and Newton, Mass. It treats seven of the people who lost legs in the bombing, its president, Matthew Albuquerque, said.

For Miss Abbott, having a leg that looks similar to the one she lost, meant a world of difference in how she came to terms with the injury she sustained in the bombing.



She said: ' I f I couldn't have a leg that looks like my own, I don't know if I would have recovered as well.

The bombing survivor is now campaigning for more amputees to have access to realistic prosthetics.



She added: 'It's upsetting to me that there are other men and women out there unable to have a leg that looks like their own leg if that's what they want.'



'I cant believe how much it looks like a real foot,' Abbott said of her silicone leg that can wear high heels