A woman opted to have her right hand amputated after a minor dog scratch resulted in her developing 'suicide disease.' Gill Haddington, 48, underwent an amputation of her right leg below the knee on May 11, 2017, following a severe flare-up of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) triggered by dropping a perfume bottle on her foot.

Four years later, on May 11, 2021, Gill chose to have her right hand amputated - this was after her dog, a springer spaniel-pug-beagle crossbreed named Bella, seven, gave her a one-inch scratch, causing another CRPS flare-up. Despite her "trauma" and adapting to life with limb differences, Gill says she feels like her "normal self" again, and is gearing up to swim one mile across Lake Windermere, Cumbria.

Gill, who is unemployed due to her disabilities and hails from Morecambe, Lancashire, said: "The pain of CRPS is excruciating - I've had so many ups and downs. I'm incredibly lucky things have turned out the way they did, though. Once I was fully awake after my first amputation - I'd gone from quiet and in pain to laughing and joking. My partner looked at me, and said: 'We've got the old Gill back.' And I feel like I am - as normal as I can be with this condition, anyway."

Gill experienced her first accident in September 2015 - when she dropped a perfume bottle on the top of her right foot. Having suffered from back pain for 16 years prior, Gill had started to walk on crutches for the first time that year - after being confined to a wheelchair since July.

Believing she had broken her foot, her partner Pete, a 67 year old intumescent salesman, rushed her to A&E at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary in Lancaster. However, an x-ray revealed her foot was "fine," and she was discharged. "Over the next six-to-nine months, my foot began to twist at a 90-degree angle," Gill recounted.

"It got to the point where you could actually see bone coming through. I was getting a lot of blisters and ulcers which started to spread up to my ankle. I was on 30 different pain medications a day - but they didn't even touch the sides." In 2016, Gill was diagnosed with CRPS following an MRI at Westmorland General Hospital in Morecambe.

On May 11, 2017, she made the decision to have her right leg amputated below the knee at the Royal Preston Hospital in Lancashire. She now uses a prosthetic leg for mobility and sometimes relies on a wheelchair. But in March 2020, just three years later, her CRPS returned when her dog Bella accidentally scratched her right hand.

"She just got excited to see me, bless her," Gill said. "It was the tiniest scratch, literally an inch long. But I knew, as soon as the blisters started, it was going to be the same as my leg."

Despite eight months of physiotherapy, Gill's right hand remained clenched in a fist, unable to open. The pain was so intense that she couldn't concentrate on anything else, living in relentless torment. On May 11, 2021, four years to the day since her initial amputation, Gill chose to have her right hand removed as well. She expressed relief post-surgery, saying: "I felt immediately afterwards like I got my life back."

Gill sympathises with others in similar pain, stating: "I just feel sorry for people having to live through this pain, who haven't had the opportunity to undergo an elective amputation yet." In her recuperation journey, Gill has found tremendous value in her support group, Enable, which she lauds for "saving her life."

The camaraderie with peers who share limb differences and disabilities is invaluable to her; the group convenes five days a week. As of June 14, 2025, she sets her sights on conquering the one mile Great North Swim, at Lake Windermere, aiming to fundraise for Enable. She shared her enthusiasm for the challenge: "I love being in the water, it makes me feel good."

Gill, undaunted by the difficulties ahead, affirmed: "It's going to be very challenging, but worth it." For those interested in supporting her cause, Gill's GoFundMe can be accessed at the following link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-group-for-people-with-long-term-health-conditions.