A woman who begged doctors to cut off her leg or she would "end her life" has run for the first time in 11 years after receiving a top prosthetic.
Tayla Page, 22, from Cannock, Staffordshire, was left in constant but inexplicable pain in her right leg after having her appendix taken out in February 2014.
From the age of 15, it gradually became worse and worse to the point where wind, water or bedsheets brushing against her leg left her writhing in agony.
She was diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), a condition which has been dubbed by some doctors as "the suicide disease" as the pain it causes is disproportionate to the trauma which triggers it, including surgery, injury or stroke.
After losing her friends, missing her A-Levels and living in excruciating pain with no known cure for CRPS - she swore to find someone to cut off her leg or she would end her life.
She told The Mirror : "Doctors didn’t know what was wrong, I went to so many different hospitals and I was just getting passed around.
"My mum would make me cry every time she put my socks on because it was so painful.
"I couldn’t bend to put them on myself. I couldn’t move it. It was black and purple and there was no pulse but the doctors would keep saying 'everything was fine'.
"I got to the point where I was suicidal because I was in that much pain.
"I was only doing half days at school and it was awful because it was like I was stuck inside whilst everyone was out having fun and enjoying their lives.
"I lost my faith in doctors completely because no one was helping me.
"I said that I’m going to find someone who will amputate my leg or I’m going to take my own life."
Eventually Tayla and her parents found an expert in Hull, East Yorkshire, who agreed that she needed to amputate the limb.
In September 2019, a week after her 20th birthday, she underwent surgery to remove her leg above the knee.
By October Tayla had started physio but within six months the world was thrown into lockdown as the Covid-19 pandemic began and her sessions were suspended.
She said: "The first thing I said when I came round after surgery was 'is it gone?'
"Most people are nervous about going into surgery and being in pain but I was buzzing.
"I couldn’t wait it, it was like the leg just wasn’t part of me.
"I was determined to get out there and get my life back.
"Taking my first step felt amazing, I thought 'wow I’m actually walking again'.
"Having it amputated was the best decision I ever made."
While getting to grips with her new life as an amputee, Tayla was made aware of a scheme set up by Paralympic athlete and gold medallist, Richard Whitehead.
Through The Richard Whitehead Foundation, she applied and was awarded a place as one of four beneficiaries who have been gifted an Ossur running blade.
The top-prosthetic, worth up to £14,000 ($18,000 USD), has transformed Tayla's life and allowed her to return to love of running and playing football.
Tayla who also had to have a separate surgery on her toe in 2011 and 2012 has not been able to run for 11 years as a result of her constant battle with pain.
She said: "I haven’t ran for 11 years. I’m loving running because I feel like I’m flying.
"I haven’t had that feeling in so long.
"I used to play a lot of football when I was younger and I want to get back to that.
"I was always active, I loved being out and about, I played netball, rounders, did athletics - you name it I gave it a go.
"Going from being such an active person to being in a wheelchair watching TV every single day was depressing.
"I can't thank Richard Whitehead Foundation enough, they have changed my life."
Tayla is also grateful to the Foundation for introducing her to fellow amputees adding that the other beneficiaries are her new "best friends".
As well as going to the gym five days a week and training at her local running track twice a week, Tayla is also planning on fulfilling her dream of going to an American summer camp.
Later this month she will jet off to New Hampshire, USA, for eight weeks to be a sports coach and show off her incredible new leg to the camp children.
