AM

Date of amputation: 3 May 1988
Time post amputation: 9 years
Age: 35 Male
Complications following broken leg
Lower leg amputated 5 years after accident
No previous damage to limb

I was playing football and I received a fracture of the lower third tib. and fib. and complications set in. I suffered from a compartmental compression, which is a crushing of the nerves and arteries from the inside by fluids from the trauma of the break, and this went unnoticed. My circulation was affected: this went on for about five and a half years until I lost my leg. I could still feel massive pains in my foot the day after I had my leg amputated. I could feel all those pains but they couldn't have been there, they weren't there, it was psychological. The mind is carrying on as if your leg is still there, but it is not there, so those pains couldn't have been real.

I can remember walking down the street with my leg on, when I was actually capable of walking, and sometimes it felt as though my leg was really back. I could feel the vibration through the foot. Sometimes the phantom feels like my own leg, but it feels like having a dead piece of meat touching the floor. I can feel a vibration when the leg hits the floor, although I know its not there. Its basically a part of me which moves normally when I walk or run, although I feel my foot as it was after the accident when it was damaged. Sometimes it feels like there are bits of the foot there and sometimes there are bits missing. It seems real, as if I or someone else can touch it. Sometimes I put my foot up to put a sock on and there is no leg there. If something was falling I would go to move it out of the way. Sometimes it is useful because it brings back good memories: it brings you back down to earth again, and sometimes its a nuisance because of the pain.