INSPIRATIONAL Scone-born bull rider Jamie ‘‘Dodge’’ Manning has checked himself out of rehab and begun walking with the aid of a prosthetic leg.

Mr Manning, 39, suffered full thickness burns to 40 per cent of his body, a broken and dislocated hip, eight broken ribs, four broken vertebrae, bleeding on the brain and  had to have his left leg and left hand amputated after crashing his ute into a tree outside Dubbo in March.

He spent six weeks in an induced coma in Royal North Shore Hospital, but from the moment he woke up has maintained the attitude that the day of the crash was the luckiest of his life. His inspiring tale of survival and remarkable outlook touched the hearts of many after Mr Manning and his wife, Karen, told his story to the Newcastle Herald earlier this month.

‘‘I’m pretty proud of myself,’’ Mr Manning said of the response. ‘‘The fact that other people can take something out of it is great, hopefully someone doing it a bit tough can be motivated by it.’’

Mr Manning checked himself out of Graythwaite Rehabilitation Centre in Sydney’s north-west on Fridayf and is now living in an apartment in Sydney with his family.

The ultimate goal is to go home, back to the farm at Dubbo, and get on a horse, but until then the plan is to travel around Sydney and visit the best specialists available to help speed up his progress. 

‘‘Jamie got a trial leg last Wednesday and he went really well on it,’’ Mrs Manning said. ‘‘He can only use it for half an hour a day at the moment because the skin is too fragile, but the people at the prosthetics place couldn’t believe it was his first time, they said his posture was perfect.

‘‘It was fantastic to see him walking.’’ 

The Scone community has been right behind Jamie and raised $65,000 at an auction in May. 

He remains ahead on his rehab and hopes to be home within a month. 

To donate to his recovery go to: http://jadams17.wix.com/jamiemanningrecovery