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Woman Needs To Raise £10,000 Or She'll Lose Her Leg

Woman Needs To Raise £10,000 Or She'll Lose Her Leg

Paige suffers from a rare syndrome which is said to cause the most pain a person can physically endure

Jake Massey

Jake Massey

A woman is making a desperate plea to raise funds to save her leg after being left with a rare condition which leaves her in agony.

At 17 years of age, Paige Howitt had an operation to realign her kneecap. However, during surgery her nerves were affected and she was left in intense pain.

She was diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) Type 2, meaning she feels the highest level of pain on the McGill pain scale, all the time.

Since the operation, Paige's life has taken a downward spiral. Now aged 24, she has missed out on a social life, she has to sleep by a freezer with ice packs and the pain, which is said to be worse than childbirth, is only worsening.

CRPS is incurable, and Paige has tried all treatment options available to her. The only one that alleviated her pain was a Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment Chamber (HOTC), but she was unable to afford to continue the treatment.

She subsequently decided to try to raise the £21,515 ($28,168) needed to buy her own chamber, sharing her story last year and she managed to raise £11,000 ($14,363) - but she still needs to raise £10,000 ($13,057).

In the meantime, the pain is getting so unbearable she is now facing up to the last resort of having her leg amputated.

In one last bid to save her leg, she has launched 'A Pound For Paige' fundraiser.

Paige Howitt

Speaking to LADbible, Paige explained what it's like living in 24/7 agony, how she is edging closer to having her leg amputated and how £10,000 could give her back her life.

"The best explanation that I can give to anyone is it is literally as though my knee and the surrounding area is being set alight, like a flame, and it is on fire," she said.

"That's 24/7, but the intensity of that fire can increase. At the start of the day and in the afternoon it is often the worst, and it flares up. If I hit it on anything that can be me gone for a week.

Paige Howitt

"You'd think you'd get used to it and that maybe I'd be able to accept it, but every day is a massive struggle and I've found with CRPS the longer you have it, the more it starts to develop into other things as well. I'm starting to experience different sensations of pain, like sharpness and soreness, as though the bones are sore and aching.

"It's just a vicious cycle, because people say when you've got something like this to deal with you need to do things that make you happy to distract you from the pain, but all the things that I want to do I can't do, and then I just get even more down about it.

"Even with work I have to have a lot of time off. They have been really good with it, but I am pushing it to the max now. I already work reduced hours, but if I get a flare-up which I can't get on top of I have to take a few days off.

"I wish I could have done a paediatric nursing degree. I wish I could be more active and lead a normal life, because this has been going on since I was 18, so it's been that whole period where you can legally go out which I've missed. Even holidays are so difficult. I'd just like to be able to go a night where I can go to sleep without depending on ice packs.

Paige Howitt

"I have no control over my life, so just to have some control back in any way would be amazing.

"I know of people who have had the amputation and it has been a success, but I have also spoken to people who have had it and they still have the CRPS. Because of how long it's been going I can't keep living like this so it has come to a point that if I can't get the chamber I am going to take the chance and amputate it.

"The amputation would be above the knee, which means the rehabilitation would be more difficult because you are losing two joints.

"The chamber is the last resort to save my leg, because I have tried everything, including alternative therapies, but nothing can seem to stop the burning aspect and cool it down.

"When I used the chamber before it reduced my sensitivity and I didn't need to use the ice packs as much - my sleep was improved, my mental health was improved.

"There is no cure for CRPS, but the chamber could possibly get me into remission and would at least help me to manage my symptoms and live a relatively normal life.

"I'd like to let other people then use it as well and I would love to be able to help people with other conditions similar to mine.

"My life isn't how I want it to be in any way, the only thing that keeps me going is my family and my partner, they're my rocks.

"Other than that, there is nothing I'm happy with. I can't keep on going like this. There's been times when it has pushed me to my limit and I have given up. I know that will come again and I don't know how I'm going to get through that.

Paige Howitt

"Even stuff like having a family, that is so uncertain with me, because if I can't look after myself how am I going to look after children?

"If I could raise the money for the chamber it would mean my life. It's me having my life and being able to be me and being able to cope.

"Otherwise, I can either have my leg amputated...or give up."

To help Paige, visit her 'A Pound For Paige' GoFundMe page

Featured Image Credit: SWNS