My Feet Are Killing Me
Season 2 TLC (*135) 20:00 Reality
You know the face you pull when you bite a lemon? The sourness that forces your face to scrunch up? The same will happen when you watch reality health show My Feet Are Killing Me. Back from its midseason break, podiatrists Ebonie Vincent and Brad Schaeffer use their scalpels to help carve people out of their foot misery – and it’s gut-churning combined with heart-breaking as the patients suffer both physical and mental anguish.
“I always wanted to be in medicine and I had two knee surgeries myself,” says Dr Ebonie. “I wanted to do more, like the orthopaedic surgical route, but I actually found the field of podiatry fit my lifestyle and how I wanted to practice medicine a lot better.” Among the doctors’ first patients are a man with crossed toes and a boy whose seemingly insignificant itchy feet are far worse than anyone realises. It’s a plethora of problems and the cases push the docs’ talents and skills. “In terms of me being shocked about new things that I see every day, the more interesting cases that come about, the less shocked you are because you’re dealing with something new that you haven’t seen before,” says Ebonie.
It’s easy for the doctors to keep calm but its the patients who pull you in – and they’re incredibly shy, explains the doctor. “It’s embarrassing some of the ailments. Some of them have puss and scabs falling off their toes and it’s not a nice thing to go to the doctor for, let alone be on national television having people see ‘what’s wrong’ with you. Some of them are shy at first but then their personalities shine through and we’re able to help them.”