Gill Haddington, 48, from Lancashire, became a double amputee after being diagnosed with a chronic pain condition. She got her hand amputated after her dog scratched her
A brave woman chose to have her hand amputated after a tiny scratch triggered a major reaction to “suicide disease” – an “excruciating” condition which had already taken away one of her legs.
Gill Haddington, 48, from Morecambe, Lancashire, was initially diagnosed with the condition, also known as complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) in 2016. The disease, which causes chronic pain in the limbs, can worsen if there is an injury.
Gill had already had her right leg amputated below the knee in May 2017 after she dropped a perfume bottle on her foot the year before. Years later in 2021, she opted to have her right hand amputated after her dog, springer spaniel-pug-beagle crossbreed Bella, gave her a one-inch scratch.
Speaking about the ordeal, Gill, who is unemployed due to her disabilities, 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 had her first accident in September 2015 – in which 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 in a wheelchair since July.
Thinking she’d broken her foot, her partner, intumescent salesman Pete, 67, drove her to A&E at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, Lancaster. But an x-ray confirmed her foot was “fine,” and she was sent home.
“Over the next six to nine months, my foot began to twist at a 90-degree angle,” Gill said. “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.”
Gill was diagnosed with CRPS in 2016, after undergoing an MRI at the Westmorland General Hospital, Morecambe. In 2017, Gill elected to have her right leg amputated below the knee – at the Royal Preston Hospital, Lancashire.
She now walks with a prosthetic leg, and occasionally uses a wheelchair. But just three years later, in March 2020, her CRPS flared up again – after her dog, Bella, gave her a mild scratch on her right hand.
“She just got excited to see me, bless her,” Gill added. “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 undergoing physiotherapy for eight months, Gill became unable to open her right hand beyond a fist. She says the pain was so bad, she couldn’t focus on anything – and she was in constant agony. On May 11, 2021, exactly four years after her first amputation, Gill opted to get her right hand amputated as well.
She said: “I felt immediately afterwards like I got my life back. I just feel sorry for people having to live through this pain, who haven’t had the opportunity to undergo an elective amputation yet.”
Throughout her recovery journey, Gill credits her support group, Enable, with “saving her life.” She’s been able to make friends with like-minded people with limb differences and other disabilities – and the group meets five days a week.
On June 14, 2025, she’s aiming to complete the one mile Great North Swim, in Lake Windermere, in order to raise money for the group.
She added: “I love being in the water, it makes me feel good. It’s going to be very challenging, but worth it.”
To donate to her challenge visit here.
The Samaritans is available 24/7 if you need to talk. You can contact them for free by calling 116 123, email [email protected] or head to the website to find your nearest branch. You matter.