A woman who had one of her five stone legs amputated was horrified when it began to grow back at great speed.
Mandy Sellars, of Accrington, Lancashire, UK, suffers from a rare condition in which she has gigantic feet and legs but a slim, size 12 body.
The 36-year-old was told by doctors that her left leg was infected with septicaemia and could kill her if it was not cut off.
But 22 months after the surgery, her limb began to balloon again.
Ms Sellars told the newspaper: ‘I hoped the amputation would stabilise my condition but I think I knew in my heart that it would start growing again.
‘Almost straight away the stump began increasing in circumference and I was finding it harder to fit inside my prosthetic leg.
‘Then the stump got so heavy that it nearly broke the prosthetic leg.’
Her leg now weighs three stone and has a circumference of one metre.
The former RSPCA voluntary worker is hopeful that a cure can be found for her disease.
It is similar to Proteus syndrome, the illness thought to have affected Elephant Man Joseph Merrick, which can also increase the size of a person’s organs.
Ms Sellars weighed 16st with both legs at full size, and is one of only around 120 people in the world with a condition of this kind.
Five years ago, she went on TV to talk about the pain of living with her condition.
‘Adults can be very hurtful,’ she said. ‘In a restaurant one blurted out, “look at the size of those feet”.
‘I don’t mind children staring, but adults should know better.’
She is now fighting to stay positive and live a normal life.
‘I will not let this thing beat me,’ she told a reporter.
‘I’m determined to stay mas mobile as possible and fight for my independence. ‘I just have to live day to day, week to week. ‘I have got a life and I have to live it as best as I can. There are people far worse off than me.’
