BEST FOOT FORWARD!
She raised £10,000 to have her left leg amputated, defying doctors’ orders... and now Hope, 21, couldn’t be happier as she plans a pain-free, sporty future
SHE had her left leg amputated – against the advice of NHS doctors – after suffering for years from excruciating nerve pain.
Now Hope Gordon, 21, who raised £10,000 via crowd-funding to have the surgery privately, is pain-free and making up for lost time after having a new prosthetic leg fitted.
Just 18 days after her operation, she was back riding her horse after an eight-year break – and in 11 weeks’ time she plans to cycle 60 miles for charity.
It’s an outcome she could only have imagined after being forced to use a wheelchair from the age of 16 following a diagnosis of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.
Last night, the student told The Scottish Mail on Sunday: ‘It’s definitely made me realise that, no matter what doctors say, no one really knows your body like you do. I’ve absolutely no regrets. I love my new leg. It felt right the minute I tried it on. I’m like a toddler with a new toy.’
She added: ‘With the pain gone, I’m laughing more and feel as if a huge burden has been lifted from me.
‘Now I have so much freedom and energy. Every aspect is great.’
Hope, who described the pain she was suffering as like having barbed wire wrapped around her leg and set on fire, decided to take matters into her own hands after doctors refused to amputate. They would not bend NHS guidelines which stipulate that CRPS should be managed through pain relief and physiotherapy, and never through amputation.
The doctors had warned Hope there was a chance ‘phantom’ nerve pain would remain, even after amputation. They also warned there was as high as a 99 per cent possibility the pain would move elsewhere.
Undeterred, the student, originally from Rogart, in Sutherland, found a surgeon who would carry out the operation privately and she set about raising the money to have it done.
The 90-minute procedure took place on August 2 at a hospital in Blackpool, Lancashire. Now fully recovered, she is delighted at the way her life has been transformed.
Many questioned the reasons behind such a controversial decision but, for Hope, there was never anything but absolute certainty that it was the right thing to do. She added: ‘Since my operation, I’ve had so many people, who suffer from similar pain, getting in touch to tell me their stories and who’ve given me words of encouragement and support.
‘I know some people judged me and thought I was making a big mistake. But unless someone has lived with that kind of pain, it’s difficult to understand how it affects every aspect of your life. I hope some doctors change the way they think now and accept that some people know their own bodies better than anyone else. I wouldn’t ever say amputation is right for everyone, but it was right for me.
‘In certain circumstances, if you’ve tried everything the NHS has to offer in its pain management programme,
and ticked every box that’s going and it’s still not making any difference, then it’s worth looking at if you have the right attitude and disposition.’
Hope offered this advice: ‘If they are young and sporty like me with a similar situation to mine, then it’s 100 per cent the right thing to do.
‘I know some people will judge me, but I was the one who had to live with the pain’
But they have to be certain, because there’s no going back.’
Her condition began sporadically as aches, similar to growing pains, in her legs as a child and became more extreme in her left limb after a PE lesson.
There was no accident or injury, just an increasing inability to walk. Expecting it to wear off in a few days, she found herself instead needing crutches a week later.
Eventually all the bones in Hope’s left ankle, foot and lower leg would fuse together into the wrong position and she could no longer play football, badminton, hockey – or even ride her beloved horse, Arena.
‘My quality of life has changed dramatically,’ said Hope, who is currently undergoing physiotherapy at the Astley Ainslie Hospital, in Edinburgh, and has just started a new sports science course at Napier University.
‘I’ve been able to get on Arena and ride her again for the first time in eight years. It was a fantastic feeling. All I’ve been able to do during that time was feed her and rely on other people to take her out.’
In December, she plans to support the Scottish charity Finding Your Feet, founded by quadruple amputee Corinne Hutton, from Lochwinnoch, in Renfrewshire, by flying out with the mother-of-one to Dubai along with other supporters to take part in a 60 mile cycle fund-raiser.
She said: ‘I never was very good at cycling when I was young but I figured if Corinne can do it without hands and feet, I can do it with one leg.’
She added: ‘It’s still early days with my new leg and I’ve had a couple of hiccups already but I’m getting there. At my graduation from my previous course last week, I’d only had the leg for 24 hours and I had a bit of trouble bending and straightening it before going up on to the stage.
‘My classmates and lecturers at Forth Valley College have really helped me though some very tough times over the past few years. They have only known me stuck in a wheelchair so I think by me walking across the stage, it was a very fitting way to end my time there.
‘My mum, dad and brother, Sean, came to watch it too – which also happened to be my parents’ 30th wedding anniversary – and it was the first time they’d seen me with my leg. It was a pretty special night for everyone!’
‘I would never want to go back to the way I was. Sometimes I look at photographs of me before the operation and I think “Thank God it’s gone”.’
She added: ‘I had forgotten how bad it was until I tried my new leg. Now I feel as if I’ve been given a new shot at life.’
‘My quality of life has changed dramatically’