An elephant woman lives in Britain: her legs are constantly growing. The only solution offered by doctors is to amputate both limbs
33-year-old British woman Mendy Sellars suffers from a rare condition known as Proteus syndrome. In total, there are 120 people in the world with this extremely rare disease. In all likelihood, Joseph Merrick, the "elephant man" who lived during Victorian England, also suffered from this ailment. This is reported by FACTNEWS.
Proteus Syndrome, or Elephant Disease, is known to cause unusual growth of the skull, bones or skin. So, Mehndi's legs are 3 times larger than her body, her legs are 88 cm in girth each, and her feet are 40 cm long. The left leg of the British woman is 13 centimeters longer than the right one, the foot is severely deformed and turned 180 degrees.
“I weigh 127 kilograms, 95 of which are the weight of my legs,” the woman said.
A normal life is simply impossible for Mendy Sellars: people constantly point fingers at her, she has to drive a special car and, moreover, she cannot work all day. However, the lively resident of the British county of Lancashire does not lose heart. She defied the verdict of doctors and went in search of a new treatment in America.
“As you can imagine, because of the large size of my legs and because of the deformity of my foot, it is very difficult for me to walk without crutches even in my own apartment,” Mendy said. - And people are very cruel. I was in the park a few months ago, and several teenagers started pointing their fingers at me, laughing and shouting to each other: "Look at her huge legs!"
»My legs are getting heavier, which puts additional stress on my heart and other internal organs. So, according to doctors, only amputation and prostheses can save my life, but in this case I will not even be able to sit and become even more helpless than now."
Promotional video:
When Mendy was born, doctors predicted that she would live no more than a week - her legs were of different lengths and absolutely out of proportion to her body. However, after 18 months, the girl unexpectedly began to walk. Despite her illness, Mendy Sellars is a very active and creative person …
And even now, when she is threatened with amputation of both limbs, she declares that she is ready to accept this as a new form of her life. “Without legs it will be easier for me to snowboard or raft,” jokes Mendy …
In May 2006, she underwent a full examination at the clinic, where she met other carriers of this unusual disease. "I wanted to find other people who are in the same position as me and support them …"
When an American TV company contacted Mendy, asking her to star in a documentary and meet with American specialists, the woman did not even hesitate. Orthopedic surgeon William Ertle and porosologist Kevin Carroll, famous for making an artificial tail for the dolphin, helped Mendy not lose hope.
"Amputation is inevitable, but with the proper approach, it can be less radical," - said the British. In addition, Mendy believes that with her illness she will still go down in history. “Perhaps one day the name of this syndrome will appear in medical books, entitled by my name - Sellars Syndrome,” the woman smiles.