Speaking in her Instagram Stories, the 32-year-old told her fans that over the weekend the pain in her missing right leg was so intense that it, ‘feels like someone’s getting a knife and stabbing… my big toe that’s not there any more’.
The phenomenon, whereby people experience pain in the part of the limb that’s no longer there, is common in amputees like Cartwright.
‘It’s just a constant stabbing pain, like someone’s knifing me every thirty seconds to a minute,’ she said, before adding: ‘It’s horrendous.’
Kelly then revealed once the pain became so unbearable she had to go to hospital.
‘I’ve been to hospital once, emergency, and that helped, having the good drugs they’ve got there.’
The star athlete and mum of two once admitted she told doctors she’d ‘rather die’ than have her leg amputated as a teenager.
Kelly was just fifteen years old when she had to have her leg amputated, after she had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called synovial sarcoma.
‘I remember telling the doctors I’d rather die than have my leg amputated.’
But after having had done some research and seeing the survival rates without amputation, Kelly opted to have her leg removed.
And, she said, she hasn’t looked back since.
‘I remember meeting other amputees afterwards, which was hugely helpful – as was the rehabilitation.
‘Speaking to other people and working with my mentor was also invaluable – it helped me to go back to sport.’
Speaking about her advice for people going through a similar situation, Kelly said the most important thing is to ‘focus on a small positive each day’:
‘I’ve always had goals, but it’s all about the little goals in between the big ones,’ she said.
‘They’re what get you through.’
Conversation