I Chose To Have My Leg Cut Off

Victoria Snell, 27, made a drastic, life-changing decision after years of agony.

- Becky Freeth

Walking through the shopping centre, the pain in my right leg burned with each step. Suddenly, I heard an all-too familiar snap. My leg had just broken – but instead of crying, I laughed, as it was the third time this had happened in just six years.

It first happened in August 2011. Without warning, my right leg completely gave way and I felt a jolt of excruciating pain. I wasn’t able to walk, so I called my mum Kerry, 56, who then rushed me to hospital.

Hidden fracture

X-rays revealed that my calf bone had already been broken for some time without me knowing. It emerged that the bones in my right leg were badly bowed and slightly shorter that the ones in the left, and my shin had snapped under the pressure of supporting my whole leg.

While the novelty of crutches and having my leg in plaster seemed fun at first, that soon wore off. After three months, the case was removed, but a year later, I tripped up the steps at my parents’ house and broke my leg again. Back at the hospital, doctors decided to operate, putting metal plates in my leg to stabilise my shin. Two years later, they added an external frame as well – to lengthen the bones.