A mum is flogging her own leg for £2,000 on eBay - her first-ever prosthetic leg that she's kept for 39 years in a bid to raise funds for a new one. Carly Deegan was born missing part of her right arm and had a limb deformity on her left leg from the hip down, so started wearing a prosthetic leg when she was just nine months old.
The mum-of-two has since had around 50 replacements but only kept this 'special' one given it's a reminder of fond memories with those who 'made her the person she is today', but are sadly no longer around. The 39-year-old is now selling the one-of-a-kind item to raise funds for a new mobility car and prosthetic leg covers that she hopes will improve her mobility and make daily life easier.
Photos and footage show the 1983 tiny brown leather leg, which is around nine inches tall, with lace straps, a plastic base and hole to accommodate her foot that was amputated aged four. It currently resides locked up in a case to prevent it from getting lost or damaged and Carly is now hoping to find a buyer who 'appreciates' the unique item.
Carly, of Rainham, Kent, said: "I've been a prosthetic wearer my whole life. My mum and dad kept it in a case. I think it was their little trinket initially because it was my first leg.
"It's always been kept safe and especially after my foot was amputated because there was never a leg made after that that was anything like that. The leg is special to me because the people who were around me when I was younger made me who I am today, and they're no longer here anymore.
"The people who knew me when I was like that instilled in me the characteristics that have kept me going and kept me strong and resilient. That reminds me of what it was to be that child and to be born into a family that was really protective, loyal and accepting.
"I was very lucky there were children out there that may have been born with far less issues than me but were never given that. It was a time where disability wasn't seen as much in the public or viewed as being the done thing to be loud and proud about as it is today."
Carly was told her condition is very rare given her limbs at the opposite sides of her body are affected. She said: "My arm from the elbow down is missing and then my left leg was deformed from the hip down.
"I had a foot there initially but it was so deformed that they tried numerous types of different prosthetics and an initial operation [aged three] to try and make it into a ballerina-type foot so I could wear a normal prosthetic but it never worked.
"I think at the age of four I had it amputated. They could never give me a complete answer as to why it happened.
"Mum never did anything specifically wrong . She never smoke or drank, it was just one of those things and you just get on with it in life really, you have no choice. I always counted myself very lucky with my leg. I never wore the arm because I had the leg.
"When I was born it was a toss-up between setting me up and making me mobile and trying to sort the arm out, and it was the leg that was the necessity. They sorted that out first and when it came down to the arm and trying to fit me with a prosthetic for my arm, I was already four or five.
"By the time they did that, I'd adapted more than well enough without it. I've just never got on with them, so I've never used a prosthetic arm. It's always been about the leg for me, always."
Carly who described herself as 'very independent' said that having her foot amputated was the best decision given it was a hindrance.
She said she hasn't had a new prosthetic leg made for around 12-15 years and that the one that she currently has was initially well suited but recently has been causing her problems.
Carly said: "I started wearing a prosthetic leg when I was nine months old. They said to mum that I wouldn't walk until I was about two because of my foot and leg but she was adamant that I wasn't going to be like that.
"She put me in a walker like you would any normal baby and she said that I just slanted myself off at one side to compensate for the height difference and I adjusted.
"I walked into the hospital much to their amazement and they fitted me with a leg straight away because I was already walking, so that's why I had one so young. Just recently my prosthetic leg is not comfortable. I'm having loads of problems with it and I've had to accept that it now has to change.
"I still count myself lucky with what I've got. It's just recently I've had to come to terms with the fact that with age and wear and tear, and I've been an amputee for so long now, my stuff needs a bit more TLC than it has ever done. I've had my leg all my life and it is very sentimental and special but I've noticed that there was a market out there for antique prosthetics and there was never anything like mine.
"I just thought if it does get sold it would enable me the choice of having something that's more apt for myself that makes my life more comfortable and easy and I'm not in pain constantly. The ideal buyer would be someone to appreciate it for what it is."
You can check out Carly's listing here.
