VIDEO: HOW I LOST MY LEG | From 9 year old kid to cancer to amputee. * 2023
VIDEO: HOW I LOST MY LEG | From 9 year old kid to cancer to amputee. * 2023

Jess Quinn is “quite literally a walking miracle”

Jessica Quinn body has been completely restructured so that she could survive an aggressive cancer. Her leg was amputated when she was a young child, and she has worn a prosthetic leg ever since. She’s created a successful modelling career, has a huge following on social media, was on Dancing with the Stars and is outspoken on the subject of body diversity.

She has strong messages about resilience. Over the last couple of years she’s had a number of major setbacks with her legs and has been in constant pain and unable to do many of the things she used to do like running and dancing. Some days she couldn’t get out of bed.

Jess has a remarkable way of talking about her pain and difficulties, and is inspirational in her response to the difficulties that have beset her. Her philosophy embraces the fact that none of us get to keep the body we were born in; we all bear scars that become part of our stories.

She’s learned to change her narrative and be grateful for what she can do, rather than focus on the negatives.

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The surgery name was Rotationplasty or Van Nes rotation

It is a type of autograft wherein a portion of a limb is removed, while the remaining limb below the involved portion is rotated and reattached. This procedure is used when a portion of an extremity is injured or involved with a disease, such as cancer.

The procedure is most commonly used to transfer the ankle joint to the knee joint following removal of a distal femoral bone tumor, such as osteosarcoma. The limb is rotated because the ankle flexes in the opposite direction compared to the knee. The benefit to the patient is that they have a functioning knee joint to which a prosthetic can be fitted, so that they can run and jump.

When she broke her femur, they know about the cancer

Jess Quinn lost her leg to cancer as a 9-year-old. In her early teens, she went years without wearing shorts. Today, the fashion school graduate is a social media influencer, blogger and brand ambassador living in Auckland, New Zealand

She was outside one day playing with her older sister in backyard and thought she’d show off a little bit and stand on a soccer ball.

Quinn lost her balance, heard a snap, and fell to the ground screaming. It turned out she’d broken her femur. She was rushed into surgery to fix the break. That whole period’s quite blurry to her. She remembers being like, “Oh, six weeks in plaster – this is hell.” She was super athletic and just wanted to get back into that.

Jess started rehab and her leg just wasn’t really healing. She could walk, but she was in a lot of pain. They put her through a series of tests. And they found a tumor in her femur, which is what had caused it to break.

Find strength & show up

Jess Quinn has a passion for helping people overcome adversity and insecurity using her own experiences. She has refused to let that stand in her way of living life to its fullest with a core passion for helping others overcome their physical and mental setbacks along the way.

Jess has developed an social media following of 242,000+ followers by speaking of her journey in a raw, honest way.  Her dream was to see people like herself with real bodies represented. “I’d recently got a cool new prosthetic leg, so we took some pictures and put them on Instagram. I only had friends and family following me at the time. It went viral, and I got 10,000 followers overnight. I thought it would plateau but it just kept going. I was getting calls at work from media wanting interviews and companies wanting me to be their brand ambassador”.

Having just placed third on Dancing with the Stars NZ and signing with a LA based modelling agency, Jess has turned her adversity into a career of helping others push through life’s triumphs and continuing to lead by example by taking all challenges that come her way.

Jess is currently on a mission to bringing awareness to image retouching in the advertising industry and why we are chasing an unachievable and unrealistic idea of perfection, both as a model and advocate.

 

Jess Quinn, lost her right leg to cancer at the age of 9 * Todo lo relacionado