A WOMAN was given a unique birthday present after being handed back a prosthetic leg that had become detached while she was swimming.

Josephine Bridges's leg became separated mid-swim in the waters of Windermere on Thursday.

After trying to retrieve it herself to no avail, she enlisted the help of diver Angus Hosking.

Mr Hosking, 22, regularly retrieves lost items and litter from the lake on a voluntary basis.

He was down at Rayrigg Meadow at 7am the following morning - Mrs Bridges's 32nd birthday - and took less than a minute to retrieve the leg and hand her a welcome birthday gift.

"He's an incredible guy," said Mrs Bridges.

"Really lovely. He does it all for free.

"He does it all in his free time.

"You can't offer him cash.

"He just wants donations to his GoFundMe to keep the lakes clean."

Mr Hosking, of Kendal, said this was the first rescue mission of its kind that he had undertaken. More common items that he and friend Declan Turner - who operate under the name Lake District Diving - are asked to retrieve are rings and mobile phones.

"People don't mean to lose stuff," said Mr Hosking.

"We just want to help."

Mrs Bridges, of Birmingham, had her leg amputated in 2018. The decision followed a series of failed bone recovery surgeries in the years since a battle with bone cancer at the age of 17.

She has since set up a charity, Positive Bones, to provide people with limb-related illness or injury access to, and funding for, specialist equipment and services.

Visit 'Lake District Diving' on Facebook for more.