Representation and disability
I knew what needed to happen; I needed to have my leg amputated because I knew it couldn’t be fixed.” Milly Pickles is looking back to the time the surgeons came into her hospital room to discuss the life-saving surgery she needed to have. She remembers interrupting them with her decision before they’d even got to the end of their list of pros and cons.
As well as everything else over the past year, Milly has become an accidental social media star and a hugely important face for disabled sports. After her amputation, she didn’t want to have to tell everyone she knew individually that she’d lost her leg so she announced it on Instagram. Seeing how interested everyone was in her physio made her share more videos and she was pleased that she was helping people going through similar. However, it was only after she accidentally posted a video to TikTok that everything went really crazy; her first video got 1.7m views and she now has 304,000 followers.
That was three and a half years ago, in the autumn of 2017. Milly, a 20-year-old student at Bournemouth University at the time, had been electrocuted which left her with severe injuries and needing urgent surgery. When the accident happened, the current had travelled up her right leg, through her pelvis and down her left leg out of her foot and, although this meant extreme injuries to her legs and feet, it did mean that her spine was unaffected.
“I share my life as an amputee, showing how things work, and learning to run etc, and I focus on raising awareness. When I lost my leg, I looked for people like me to follow and there was nobody; just one lovely girl in Brazil but I couldn’t understand a word she was saying!
She explains: “Before my amputation happened, I’d already psychologically accepted it so it wasn’t as taxing on my emotions as you’d think it would be.” She’s coped amazingly well the whole time – before, during and after her life-saving surgery – and, although she half expected the trauma and sadness to catch up with her, it never has.
“I really wanted to have someone to relate to, and when I started posting everything online, a lot of amputees started asking me ‘What’s the best leg to get? What happens at this point?’ and so on. TikTok is a great environment for diversity and inclusivity. I love it when people contact me for help and advice; I’m happy knowing I can help someone else.”
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