A Hamilton woman had her leg amputated in a bid to fight off a rare cancer.
Rebekah Laverty was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma in December after spotting 'unusual lumps and swelling' which led to an MRI scan that found a 13 centimetre tumour above her knee.
The 'unheard' type of cancer can come from muscle or ligaments and is often found in the arm, leg, foot, wrist, ankle, lung or abdomen.
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Rebekah, 29, endured several rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy and geared up for surgery in a bid to save her leg.
But after discussions with her surgeon, she made the decision to have her leg amputated to reduce the chances of her cancer coming back.
'Becoming disabled' overnight is something brave Rebekah won't make 'life-limiting' as she vows not to 'waste life' and 'feel sorry for herself'.
She told Lanarkshire Live: "You hear of people having cancer but you never think it will be you.
"The amputation was a very scary decision to make.
"I was going from an abled person to a disabled person.
“If I had saved my leg, it would be a constant worry for me maybe having a recurrence as I had many I injections of needles over the years, which could have potentially moved any of the cancer cells and a new tumour could form. I would need to get an amputation if this was to happen."
"I knew it was the best solution to give me the best chance possible."
She added: "You have one life and I wasn’t wasting it feeling sorry for myself.
"Although this is life-changing, I won’t let it be life-limiting.”
Facing the fact she had lost her leg took time.
She said: “It took me three days after the surgery before I could look at my residual limb.
"For the first few weeks after the surgery, I got a lot of phantom sensations and still suffer from constant pins and needles.
“Right now, I’m cancer free and I hope the chemo has killed any cancer cells left lurking about, but I get scans every three months and will be monitored for years.
“I just take one day at a time."
Rebekah chose to share her cancer story through Instagram page in a bid to raise awareness and help other patients.
She added: “I decided to document my journey when I was first diagnosed.
"Synovial sarcoma is a very rare type of cancer, it is estimated that just one to three people in a million are diagnosed with it.
"It’s the ‘unheard’ type of cancer.
"There weren’t many people I could turn to for answers, and I wanted to know more.
“I searched online and spoke to a lot of lovely people and I decided I was going to document everything, to maybe help someone else that might go through something similar."
Rebekah is now undergoing physiotherapy and will have her first mechanical leg soon. She hopes to get an NHS-funded microprocessor-controlled leg, which adapts to the environment around you such as speeding up, slowing down and walking up hills.
Her ultimate aim is to remain active and eventually get all the functions of a ‘human’ leg, which the NHS won’t fund and costs between £80,000 and £90,000.
She said: “My goal is to be as active as I can be, just like how I was when I still had my leg and enjoy life with no limitations.
“Hopefully my partner and I can look forward to a nice holiday to relax and I have my thirtieth birthday next year.
"I want to be up on two legs and get on with life.
"That’s my target."
Her friend, Adele Hart, is arranging a surprise fundraiser on Friday, July 29 to help raise funds for the 'human mechanical leg', head to the GoFund page to donate.
Follow Rebekah's Instagram journey here.
For more information on visit the Sarcoma UK website.
