Amputees peril soars
THE number of young people who needed amputations due to diabetes has trebled in 10 years.
In the past 12 months 17 people aged under 29 have had limbs removed – up from six in 2011-12.
And it is feared the toll will rise because of a pandemic backlog in diagnosis and amputations.
Diabetes, classed as Type 1 and Type 2, is when blood sugar levels are too high.
Rising obesity is blamed for an increase in Type 2.
Lucy Nazeer, diagnosed with Type 1 at 14, lost both legs by the age of 35 after suffering ankle injuries.
Lucy of Frimley, Hants, said: “I wish someone had told me when I was younger if I didn’t look after myself this would happen.”
The charity Diabetes UK said: “The number of sufferers is increasing rapidly. We estimate the current total is about 4.9 million.”