PAULA HULBURT
Jessica Simmons is adapting to life after a recent amputation.
Saving Jessica When Jessica Simmons made the difficult decision to have her lower right leg amputated, it changed her life forever. She tells Paula Hulburt why she made the right choice and how she’s rebuilding her life after surgery.
T
he dull ache in her ankle disturbed her dreams and roused her from her sleep.
Waking in the half light of early morning, Jessica, 32, reached for her lamp before the truth hit; her ankle couldn’t possibly hurt, it was no longer there. Her heart beat a hurried tattoo of alarm before she carefully slowed her breathing and lay back down. After the amputation of her lower right leg, surgeons had warned her about phantom feelings in the limb that had gone. She recalls brushing their concerns aside.
“I didn’t think much of it to be honest but it’s true. It’s a very weird feeling and I guess it’s just going to take time for my brain to catch up with reality,” she explains. It is a bright sunny Marlborough morning and Jessica is all smiles as she uses a wheeled chair to move around the kitchen making breakfast. Back in Blenheim after 26 nights in hospital, Jessica is delighted to be home. “I cooked tea properly the other night so I’m feeling particularly proud of myself,” she explains as she grabs a small plate.
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