An ‘active’ Birmingham man has had his leg amputated after discovering the limp was cancer

A city teacher has spoken of the devastating moment his leg had to be amputated to stop cancer spreading to the rest of his body. Kings Heath resident Chris George, 32, led an incredibly active lifestyle, including going to the gym five days a week, rock climbing and wakeboarding, until he started limping in October 2023.

Two months later, after initially being given painkillers, Chris was told that the situation was much worse than first thought. Chris, a primary school teacher from Erdington, told BirminghamLive: “I was very active, going to the gym five days a week. In October I limped a little.

“I thought I did something at the gym. I was given some painkillers. After Christmas 2023 I went to A and E, I didn’t even have such a limp, I had to insist (it was a limp.)”

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“Doctors have rarely seen this”

Chris was sent for scans, which revealed he faced an uphill battle ahead: “They did an X-ray, I wasn’t expecting much, they called me back and there were three people in the room. There were injuries on the lower femur, the area just above the knee.

“Investigations found it was likely to be a tumor and cancer. The doctors said they saw this very rarely.”

Chris explained that the type of cancer he has is a giant cell tumor, which “is almost always benign, but his turned out to be malignant.” He started chemotherapy in February and was either a day patient or hospitalized for two weeks as he endured grueling sessions.

However, the chemo didn’t have the result Chris was hoping for: “I was told the chemo had no impact, they stopped it straight away. The consultant told me that there is an option to remove the tumor but it is a huge risk to life. .” The other option was amputation of the leg, which had much lower risks.

After “a lot of tears, tissues and black jokes” Chris had his amputation on May 16: “Everything is healing very well, the recovery is going very well, but obviously it’s hard.

“It was an overnight thing”

“It was very much an overnight thing. My active lifestyle was eliminated overnight. Since coming out of surgery, I’ve been able to do some active things. My friend created a personal training program for me. “

Chris now has half of his right thigh left and plans to regain his fitness as he adapts to his new lifestyle.

“Whatever happens with the prosthetic, I absolutely want to lead an active lifestyle. We have a pretty dark sense of humor to get past,” he joked.

Chris’s fundraising page calls his cancer Neil, when asked about the meaning behind the name he joked: “Neil is the worst joke ever, he’s in my knee and he’s made me sick!”

Chris has launched a GoFundMe page for a series of prosthetic legs called microprocessor knees, which have different functions and can connect to an app on your phone.

“I never thought I’d go shopping!”

“The NHS provides one, but there are a few different ones through private companies that we’ve looked at. I never thought I’d go shopping!”

Chris is off work until September and hopes to get back into things as soon as possible: “My manager has been incredible and has been so supportive. I’d like to get back to work as soon as possible.”

Chris said he’s also factoring in future maintenance, upkeep and leg replacement over the next few years, which he knows will add up substantially. He said the kindness of his friends and strangers was overwhelming

“It’s been amazing, the support. I know many people have been in similar situations, you don’t know what to say. They put my very close friends (money), I mean no Do it, I don’t want to take people’s money, so it’s a weird feeling.”

At the time of writing, Chris’ GoFundMe page had more than £40,000 donated as part of a £100,000 target. You can find the fundraising page here.

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