A St Neots woman who suffers with a incurable chronic pain condition is trying to raise £8,000 for a new prosthetic leg.
Jess Gray, 21 from St Neots, has been suffering for the last nine years with a rare and acute form of Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome.
In June last year, Jess was diagnosed with severe sepsis in her foot and leg and as a result her leg was amputated.
She now hopes to raise £8,000 for a prosthetic limb, so that she can more confidently.
Jess said: "It’s really important to me that I get a prosthetic leg that generally looks like my leg. I’d like it to have individual toes so I can wear sandals in the summer and toenails so I can paint them just like my other foot.
All these little things the NHS don’t do as they are deemed to be cosmetic, however, I’d argue otherwise."
Jess describes how difficult the condition is to cope with, she said: “The skin of the affected body area becomes so sensitive that just a slight touch, bump or even a change in temperature can provoke intense pain.
“A drop of water feels like a stab and causes me to fall unconscious and screaming in pain. Using the Mc Gill Pain chart, CRPS scores the highest, even higher than cancer and childbirth!”
More than £5,000 has been raised for Jess so far and a JustGiving page has been set up for people to donate.
Ian Mclachlan and Michael Kirsop also completed a 100km walk to raise money.
Ian and Michael took part in the South Coast Challenge, which took place on September 4 /5.
The South Downs National Park starts from Eastbourne and moves up to Beachy Head, taking in the magnificent Seven Sisters, and then moves along the South Downs Way to Brighton which is the half-way point.
Then up to Devil’s Dyke, before an historic Arundel comes into view.
Ian said: “We roughly raised £1,500 for Jess and we started off on the Saturday morning at 7:20am and walked through the day and night and finished at 11:25am on Sunday morning.
“The walk was a big challenge but worth it to help Jess.”
If you would like to donate visit Jess's JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/fight-for-jess
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