NAIL BITE GAVE ME CANCER
Student loses thumb:
A STUDENT had to have her thumb amputated after getting cancer from biting her nails.
Courtney Whithorn, 20, developed the nervous habit after being bullied at school.
She bit her thumb nail off when she was 16.
When her finger started turning black she hid it from her friends and family.
But she had caused such major trauma to her skin that she developed a rare form of cancer.
Since the condition was diagnosed two months ago she has undergone four operations.
But surgeons could not save her diseased digit, which has now been removed.
Courtney said: “When I found out that biting my nail off was the cause of the cancer it shattered me.
“I thought, ‘I’ve done this to myself ’. I couldn’t believe it.
Graft
“When you think about how many kids bite their nails it is crazy it came to that.”
The psychology student added: “I bit the nail off four years ago and I was very self-conscious of how black it was. “My hand was just constantly in a fist because I didn’t want anyone to see it – not even my parents.
“I got a bit freaked out when my skin started to go black so I showed them this year.”
Courtney, of Newton Aycliffe, Co Durham, went to her GP who referred her to a plastic surgeon.
Medics planned to remove the damaged tissue and perform a skin graft.
But during the process a biopsy revealed cancer.
Courtney said: “Because it had started to travel, the only option left was amputation.”
She had been a “nail biter” her “whole life” and used it as a “coping mechanism” when she was bullied at school.
Courtney added: “I didn’t even know that I was biting my nails sometimes – it just happened.”