Brenna Cooper
A woman who had her leg amputated after developing a rare condition known as a ‘suicide disease' has now chosen to have her right hand removed for the same reason.
Gill Haddington's life would change forever in May 2017 after she dropped a perfume bottle on her foot, which triggered a flare up of an illness known as complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS).
According to the NHS, little is known about what causes CRPS, however, it causes 'severe and long-lasting' pain.
Affected areas can become swollen, stiff and extremely sensitive to touch, and in some cases can last for a number of years.
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In most cases it will only impact one limb, but it can sometimes spread to other parts of the body.
For Gill, the pain was so severe that she decided to get her right leg amputated below the knee in order to be free of the excruciating pain of nearly two years, which had seen her foot involuntarily twist at a '90-degree angle'.
Just four years later she would find herself in the same difficult situation once again after her dog, a springer spaniel-pug-beagle crossbreed named Bella, scratched her arm.
Despite the scratch being only one inch in size, it was enough to trigger another flare up of CRPS.
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"She just got excited to see me, bless her," the 48-year-old said of the incident, adding: "It was the tiniest scratch, literally an inch long.
"But I knew, as soon as the blisters started, it was going to be the same as my leg."
Gill, who was diagnosed with CRPS in 2016, attempted to save the limb by undergoing physiotherapy for months, though she was left in constant agony and unable to open her hand beyond a fist.
In May 202, she decided to return to the operating table in order to have her right hand removed.
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"I felt immediately afterwards like I got my life back," she said of the operation.
"I just feel sorry for people having to live through this pain, who haven’t had the opportunity to undergo an elective amputation yet.
"The pain of CRPS is excruciating - I’ve had so many ups and downs," she added.
"I’m incredibly lucky things have turned out the way they did, though."
In June, she is planning to complete the one-mile Great North Swim in Lake Windermere, Cumbria to raise money for her local support group, Enable Support Group CIC.
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"I love being in the water, it makes me feel good," she said. "It’s going to be very challenging, but worth it."
A link to Gill's GoFundMe can be found here.