Nurse's Leg Amputated After Ignoring Pain While Working During Coronavirus Pandemic

A nurse from Eccles, Greater Manchester, England, was forced to have her leg amputated after she learned that the leg cramps she dismissed while working long shifts amid the coronavirus pandemic were from a tumor.

In April, Sette Buenaventura noticed a throbbing pain in her right calf, but since she had been working 12-hour shifts, she assumed the cramps were a result of being on her feet for too long. However, once she began struggling to walk, she sought medical help, eight weeks after first noticing the pain.

Yahoo! Life reported that the 26-year-old learned that she had sarcoma, a rare type of cancer that affects tissues that surround, support, and are connected to organs and other body structures.

Within a few weeks, the tumor had doubled in size, and Buenaventura was told that the only way to save her life would be to amputate her leg from the top of her knee.

“They told me the only way they could save my life was to remove my leg. I was diagnosed in April, and my leg was gone by May. There was just no time to worry about it, I just had to take in what they were saying, and I just got on with it knowing that I didn’t have a choice,” she said.

Buenaventura revealed that her amputation happened just weeks after she was diagnosed with a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor.

“It was a huge shock to the system because originally I was told I would just have surgery and be left with a scar, but in the time it took them to take scans of the rest of my body to check for spreading the original lump doubled in size,” she explained.

Despite her long hours working in the stroke ward, Buenaventura managed to maintain a healthy lifestyle, which only made her diagnosis even more devastating.

“I was so upset, I like to look after myself and try to be healthy, I work in healthcare and never expected this to happen,” she said. “They told me that the only way they could save my life was to remove my leg from the top of my knee. It was a horrible feeling, but it all happened so fast that I didn’t really have time to process what was going on.”

Buenaventura admitted that she is still struggling to adjust to her new life but is hoping her story will inspire others to make their health a priority.

The nurse is now cancer-free following her leg amputation and could return to work as early as November as long as her rehabilitation goes well.