Woman Is 'Suffocating' On Her Breasts, But Doctors Won't Operate: 'Back Pain Is Ridiculous'

A 21-year-old woman in Northamptonshire, England, has launched a fundraiser to help finance an operation that would reduce the size of her 36JJ breasts before her wedding later this year.

Carly Smart said she suffers "ridiculous" back pain and "extreme rashes" that turn her skin "lobster red" due to her breasts, which weigh approximately 21 pounds, Daily Mail first reported.

"Whenever I came home from school I used to just lie on my floor and cry. It felt like my back was about to snap like a match stick, it was horrible," Smart was quoted as saying by the outlet.

The waitress from Wellingborough said she's knocked over glasses, feels like she's "suffocating" whenever she bends over to pick up stock and has experienced her buttons popping open in front of customers.

In another incident, Smart said she nearly burned a nipple after she failed to realize that one of her breasts was touching the side of a kettle.

Smart now wears size 20 to 24 clothes and tries "to not wear a bra as much as possible."

"Even though I'm only 21, I feel like I've lost so much of my youth because I can't move like other people, it does affect my day-to-day life," she said.

Smart first approached doctors for breast reduction surgery when she was 17, but instead of approving the operation, they allegedly offered to increase her dosage of anti-depressants so she would no longer "have to think about it as much."

A surgeon also later told Smart that neither they nor the U.K.'s National Health Service (NHS) would approve the surgery unless she lost weight and lowered her body mass index (BMI) from 32 to 25.

However, Smart said going down to the "ridiculous size" would end up breaking her back as a slimmer body would be unable to handle her breasts.

"It can hardly cope as it is," she said.

Additionally, as Smart had an eating disorder when she was still a teenager, any dieting would be a "slippery slope" that could result in her developing a negative mindset about her body again.

Smart has since launched a GoFundMe page to help raise money for an operation that would reduce her breast size to DD before her wedding in August. She also started selling self-made jewelry to cover the costs.

The fundraiser has raised £1,745 ($2,345) for the £7,000 ($9,415) operation so far.

Smart was initially reluctant to open a GoFundMe page as people told her it was a cosmetic surgery.

"I hate the idea of asking for money for something that I want, but it's a need as well," she said.

NHS Northamptonshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which funds and purchases the majority of health services on behalf of registered patients in Northamptonshire and its surrounding regions, released a statement in response to Smart's story.

"Although we are unable to comment on individual cases, our Breast Reconstruction Policy sets out the criteria for patients seeking funding for breast reduction surgery and is followed by all general practices in the Northamptonshire CCG catchment area," a spokesperson said in the statement.

"This policy is one of a number of Prior Approval Policies that have been put in place to make the best use of NHS funds and ensure we can efficiently manage our limited resources while caring effectively for our local population. This often means we have to make difficult choices about where we invest resources to deliver the greatest benefit and the Prior Approval Scheme sets out the criteria that must be met before the procedure or treatment can be carried out to ensure fairness and transparency," the agency explained.