‘I thought my life was over’: Brit woman reveals her giant 17-STONE legs are finally shrinking
Mandy Sellars had her left leg amputated after developing septicaemia - but it started growing back
A woman whose legs ballooned to 17 STONE feels she’s experienced “a miracle” after new drugs helped shrink her limbs by five stone.
Mandy Sellars, 41, has a rare condition which has left her with a size 10 upper body, but oversized legs and feet.
In 2010 her left leg was amputated because she got septicaemia – but she was stunned when the limb started growing back.
Mandy has since started taking a new drug which has helped her lose six stone from her legs, leaving her stunned.
"It felt like a miracle, I couldn't believe it when I lost a stone after just five months on the drugs, my legs were shrinking,” she said.
"I am comfortable in my own skin, and proud of my condition and who I am.”
Mandy’s legs and feet were five times the size they should have been when she was born.
Doctors was confused by her condition, so Mandy went about life as normal.
She went to school, college and university, but all the while her legs continued to grow.
Although her life was hard, Mandy could walk by herself. However, she was eventually told that amputation might be the only way to stop her legs growing.
This eventually happened in 2010 when she got an infection which was so bad she could have died.
The operation took place at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, but within months doctors were stunned to find Mandy’s leg was growing again.
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Two years later it measured a metre in width.
“I was being measured at the hospital for a prosthetic leg they noticed it had already grown," she recalled.
"I felt helpless. My body was taking control of my life and I felt like there was nothing I could do about it.
"It felt like in a short period of time I could become bed bound and my life could be over for me as my leg continued to grow.”
In 2012, medics finally told Mandy a gene mutation had likely caused her condition. It meant her skin, fat, tissue and bone grew too much, and Mandy was thrilled to finally have a diagnosis.
“I was over the moon," she said. "I never thought in my lifetime anyone would be able to find out what my condition was.
"I felt like I had been waiting my whole life for that diagnosis, just to know what it was that made me like I am.
"When I was offered a trial drug, to try and shrink the leg, I went for it.
“I had never been offered anything before that could stop the condition or shrink it."
Over the next two years she lost six stone from her legs, and she’s able to move around more easily.
It’s changed her life as she can do simple things, like getting onto her bed, without help.
Mandy has an adapted car and needs her clothes to be specially made for her, but she’s convinced her recovery will continue.
“People say, 'I don't know how you cope,’ but I am making the most of what I am able to do and feel in who I am,” she said. “I am proud to be me."