A woman whose legs grew to 17-stone because of a rare disease has told how they are finally shrinking – and now weigh 11-stone.
Mandy Sellars, from Huncoat, was born with legs and feet five times their normal size and has battled since childhood the unusual condition.
It means the 41 year old has a trim size-10 upper-body, but huge feet and legs.
She was forced to have her left leg amputated in 2010 after contracting septicaemia, but was shocked when the limb stared to grow back .
Now, thanks to a pioneering drug, almost six stone has been shed off the former RSPCA volunteer’s lower body.
She said: “It felt like a miracle, I couldn’t believe it when I lost a stone after just five months on the drugs, my legs were shrinking.
“I am comfortable in my own skin, and proud of my condition and who I am.”
With doctors baffled about her condition, Mandy, of Bolton Avenue, tried to live a normal life by going to school, college and studying psychology at the University of Central Lancashire while her legs continued to grow.
Able to walk and get around, life was a challenge for Miss Sellars, but she was mobile.
But soon she was warned amputation might be the only way to stop her legs from ballooning.
With her legs weighing whopping 17 stone, in 2010 Miss Sellars started to develop serious infections and amputation was the only option to stop them from killing her.
But months after going under the knife at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, doctors were shocked to see the leg had started to grow back – and within two years it was a metre in girth.
“I was being measured at the hospital for a prosthetic leg they noticed it had already grown,” she recalled.
“I felt helpless. My body was taking control of my life and I felt like there was nothing I could do about it.
“It felt like in a short period of time I could become bed bound and my life could be over for me as my leg continued to grow.”
Two years later in 2012, after endless tests, doctors finally told Miss Sellars they believed her condition was caused by a mutation in the PIK3CA gene which causes an overgrowth of skin, bone, fat and tissue.
“I was over the moon,” she said. “I never thought in my lifetime anyone would be able to find out what my condition was.
“I felt like I had been waiting my whole life for that diagnosis, just to know what it was that made me like I am.
“When I was offered a trial drug, to try and shrink the leg, I went for it. I had never been offered anything before that could stop the condition or shrink it.”
Over the past two years she lost six stone from her legs and now, despite being house-bound, finds being mobile around her home much more manageable.
“My life has really changed,” she said. “It’s easier to get around, just simple things like getting on the bed and doing things for myself.
“I am happy, not just because my leg is shrinking but because I am feeling more like me. I feel like I am really going in the right direction.”
Miss Sellars continues to have clothes and shoes specially made because of her size and drives a specially-adapted car.
Doctors are unsure if her legs will continue to shrink, but Miss Sellars is keeping a positive attitude.
“People say ‘I don’t know how you cope’, but I am making the most of what I am able to do and feel in who I am. I am proud to be me.”
