A Florida teen underwent a gruelling 17-hour surgery to amputate her left leg - which weighed more than double the weight of the rest of her body.
Fourteen-year-old Jasmine Ramirez, from Bradenton - a city located 50-minute drive south of Tampa - was forced to undergo the life-changing operation after developing a rare condition that caused her leg to grow to an astonishing 170 pounds, leaving doctors baffled.
The marathon procedure took place at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, where surgeons amputated her left leg in an effort to save her life.
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The procedure also involved removing a tumor from her abdomen, marking the most intense chapter yet in a medical journey that began when she was just two years old.
According to her family, they first noticed something wasn’t right when Jasmine’s left leg began growing much faster than the rest of her body.
“As her sister, [me] and my other siblings that lived in that house, we knew it wasn't normal, but we always tried to treat Jasmine as if she was a normal kid,” Anastashia Ramirez told Fox 13.
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At first, Jasmine was able to walk, but as the years passed, the size and weight of her leg made that impossible, and she was forced to use a wheelchair. The family even had to get her clothes tailored to fit.
"We always tried our best to help her out and make her feel better,” Ramirez explained.
"It was a little more heartbreaking to my parents because they're trying their best. They're listening to doctors, medical professionals, but there's not much that they can do because they don't know what is causing it."
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Doctors told the family Jasmine’s condition is so rare it doesn’t even have an official name, and is currently managed as a lymphomatous tumor.
"Like her arteries, her veins, the fat, the mass of it, her bone - all of it just kind of grew at an abnormal rate,” Ramirez added.
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Earlier this year, an antibiotic-resistant infection linked to her leg became life-threatening, forcing the family to choose amputation.
During the 16.5-hour surgery, the leg alone weighed just over 170 pounds. Afterward, Jasmine herself weighed around 80 pounds.
Despite everything, her recovery has been encouraging.
"She's getting back to her normal self now," her older sister told the publication. "But it is going to be quite an adjustment for her, coming into this new chapter of her life."
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The family has since launched a GoFundMe to help pay for medical bills as well as cover essential costs while their parents stay by Jasmine’s side full-time.
In the fundraiser, her sister wrote: "Your donation will allow our parents to be present with her around the clock, ensuring she gets the best care during her hardest journey yet."
Joe Yates