A young woman in Florida underwent a mammoth 17-hour operation to amputate her leg, after it grew so fast she needed to use a wheelchair.
Since the age of two, Jasmine Ramirez has had a condition that caused her left leg to grow much faster than the rest of her body. The condition is so rare that doctors don’t have a name for it.
“Like her arteries, her veins, her fat, her mass, her bones — everything grew at an abnormal rate,” her sister, Anastashia Ramirez, told Fox13. Doctors previously classified and managed the growth as a lymphomatous tumor.
At first, the young woman could walk, but eventually her legs grew so large that she had to use a wheelchair, according to her family. She was forced to have her clothes tailored to fit her leg.
Since the age of two, Jasmine Ramirez, has had a condition that caused her left leg to grow much faster than the rest of her body. The condition is so rare that doctors don’t have a name for it (GoFundMe/ Jasmine’s Journey)
Jasmine, now 14 and described as “creative, brave, sassy, and full of light,” has endured several hospital stays and surgeries to manage the size and growth of her leg.
In recent weeks, she was admitted to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, after contracting a potentially life-threatening antibiotic-resistant infection on her leg. Her family then decided to amputate her leg.
During the operation, which lasted about 16.5 hours, the doctors amputated her leg, which weighed just over 170 pounds, and also removed a tumor in her abdomen. After the surgery, Jasmine weighed just 80 pounds, according to Fox13.
During the operation, which lasted about 16.5 hours, the doctors amputated her leg which weighed a little over 170 pounds, and also removed a tumor in her abdomen. After surgery Jasmine weighed only 80 pounds (GoFundMe/ Jasmine’s Journey)
“She’s getting better every day,” Anastashia Ramirez told the outlet. “She’s getting out of bed. They’re putting her in a wheelchair… She’s been doing great.”
A GoFundMe set up by her sister has raised more than $16,000 to help with Jasmine’s care and to help support her parents, who are providing full-time care, and her six siblings.
“With my parents, it’s hard for them. They see their child go through something like this that you can’t control,” Ramirez said.
“It was a little more heartbreaking for my parents because they are doing their best. They are listening to the doctors, the medical professionals, but they can’t do much because they don’t know what is causing it.”
She added: “[Jasmine’s] trooper. She’s a superhero, honestly. All that strength and courage it takes to do this – it takes a lot.”