GILL HADDINGTON, 48, FROM LANCASHIRE, BECAME A DOUBLE AMPUTEE AFTER BEING DIAGNOSED WITH A CHRONIC PAIN CONDITION. SHE GOT HER HAND AMPUTATED AFTER HER DOG SCRATCHED HER 10:53, 22 Apr 2025 A

brave woman chose to have her hand amputated after a tiny scratch triggered a major reaction to "suicide disease" - an "excruciating" condition which had already taken

away one of her legs. Gill Haddington, 48, from Morecambe, Lancashire, was initially diagnosed with the condition, also known as complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) in 2016. The disease,

which causes chronic pain in the limbs, can worsen if there is an injury. Gill had already had her right leg amputated below the knee in May 2017 after she dropped a perfume bottle on her

out the way they did, though. Article continues below "Once I was fully awake after my first amputation - I'd gone from quiet and in pain to laughing and joking. My partner looked

at me, and said: 'We've got the old Gill back.' And I feel like I am - as normal as I can be with this condition, anyway." Gill had her first accident in September 2015

- in which she dropped a perfume bottle on the top of her right foot. Having suffered from back pain for 16 years prior, Gill had started to walk on crutches for the first time that year -

after being in a wheelchair since July. Thinking she'd broken her foot, her partner, intumescent salesman Pete, 67, drove her to A&E at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, Lancaster. But

an x-ray confirmed her foot was "fine," and she was sent home. "Over the next six to nine months, my foot began to twist at a 90-degree angle," Gill said. "It got

to the point where you could actually see bone coming through. "I was getting a lot of blisters and ulcers which started to spread up to my ankle. I was on 30 different pain medications

a day - but they didn't even touch the sides." Gill was diagnosed with CRPS in 2016, after undergoing an MRI at the Westmorland General Hospital, Morecambe. In 2017, Gill elected

to have her right leg amputated below the knee - at the Royal Preston Hospital, Lancashire. She now walks with a prosthetic leg, and occasionally uses a wheelchair. But just three years

later, in March 2020, her CRPS flared up again - after her dog, Bella, gave her a mild scratch on her right hand. "She just got excited to see me, bless her," Gill added. "It

was the tiniest scratch, literally an inch long. But I knew, as soon as the blisters started, it was going to be the same as my leg." Despite undergoing physiotherapy for eight months,

Gill became unable to open her right hand beyond a fist. She says the pain was so bad, she couldn't focus on anything - and she was in constant agony. On May 11, 2021, exactly four

years after her first amputation, Gill opted to get her right hand amputated as well. She said: "I felt immediately afterwards like I got my life back. I just feel sorry for people

having to live through this pain, who haven't had the opportunity to undergo an elective amputation yet." Throughout her recovery journey, Gill credits her support group, Enable,

with "saving her life." She's been able to make friends with like-minded people with limb differences and other disabilities - and the group meets five days a week. On June

14, 2025, she's aiming to complete the one mile Great North Swim, in Lake Windermere, in order to raise money for the group. Article continues below She added: "I love being in the

water, it makes me feel good. It's going to be very challenging, but worth it." To donate to her challenge visit here. _THE SAMARITANS IS AVAILABLE 24/7 IF YOU NEED TO TALK. YOU

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