Sunderland woman recovering after legs amputation
A Sunderland mother-of-six said she will have to learn to walk for the third time in her life after having both legs amputated.
Jennifer Clark was born with congenital bilateral talipes, which left her unable to walk.
Five years ago her feet were surgically removed. She then suffered from severe pain and decided to have her legs removed below the knee on 23 May.
She is waiting for her legs to heal before she can given prostheses.
The condition meant Ms Clark had no ankle or heel bones and had about 60 operations.
She had the first double amputation when the bone structure in her feet started crumbling and the second because of the debilitating pain.
Centre of balance
She said: "As a toddler you learn to have to walk then with all the accidents of falling down and bumping into things.
"Then, again, when I had the Symes [feet] amputation - [I had] new prosthetics and I had to learn how to put weight through them, how to stand up, how to 'toddle'.
"It's going to be the same this time. It's learning a new centre of balance, a new way of walking."
She hopes her prostheses will have more flexible feet on them.
While she is recovering she is writing a blog about her experiences.
She said: "It's not just for me and the children to look back on but it's for everybody who has been through an amputation."