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Woman Who Can Walk Uses Wheelchair And Wants Doctor To Paralyse Her From Waist Down

Woman Who Can Walk Uses Wheelchair And Wants Doctor To Paralyse Her From Waist Down

Cambridge Educated Chloe Jennings-White, 58, knew from a young age that she was different and is now even prepared to pay a surgeon to help

Paddy Maddison

Paddy Maddison


A research scientist from Salt Lake City, Utah, suffers from a rare disorder that makes her desperate to live the life of a disabled person, despite the fact that she can walk and even ski.

Cambridge Educated Chloe Jennings-White, 58, knew from a young age that she was different and is now even prepared to pay a surgeon to help her in her quest to lose the use of her legs.

Chloe, who spends most of her time in a wheelchair, suffers from a rare condition called Body Integrity Identity Disorder, or BIID.

People with the illness have trouble accepting one or more of their body parts, often seeking to have them amputated.

Chloe has found a doctor overseas who is willing to help her become disabled but she can't afford the £16,000 costs.

"I might never be able to afford it, but I know, truly and deeply, I won't regret it if I ever can," she told the Daily Mail.

"Something in my brain tells me my legs are not supposed to work,' she said. 'Having any sensation in them just feels wrong."

Chloe's condition has put her in the firing line of abuse, insults and even threats from people who struggle to understand her illness.

On occasions, Chloe has become so desperate that she has intentionally tried to hurt herself to lose the use of her legs.

At the age of nine, she rode her bike off a four-foot high acting stage on Hampstead Heath, north London, landing on her neck.

"I only wanted to stop my legs working but could have broken my neck or died," she added.

She also admits that she finds skiing to be thrilling due to the chance of having an accident and becoming paralysed.

Barcroft

"I ski extremely fast, and aim for the most dangerous runs," she said.

"Doing any activity that brings a chance of me becoming paraplegic gives me a sense of relief from the anxiety caused by the BIID.

"My friends and family can get a little worried about me skiing, as they know I ski very aggressively and they know that in the back of my mind I actually want to get paralysed."

It was only when Chloe did eventually have a ski accident and was doing research to find a set of leg braces, that she discovered there was a whole community of people just like her.

"It was a huge relief," she said. 'I wasn't a freak - there were hundreds of others like me."

Psychiatrist Dr Mark Malan, who treats Chloe, told the paper: "The question I often ask is, is it better to have somebody pretending to use a wheelchair, or to commit suicide?

"One possibility could be to do some sort of nerve blocking so that that limb could not actually be used for a period of time, to let the patient test the reality of being physically disabled temporarily.

"It would give BIID sufferers a chance to change their minds if they wanted to."

Featured Image Credit: Barcroft Images

Topics: Disability, USA