Amputation

Available for over a year

A dilemma arises for a surgeon when a young woman called Sarah is referred to his clinic. Six years earlier, Sarah injured her knee in a skiing accident and the intervening years have been dominated by operations to repair her knee, each followed by months of gruelling rehabilitation. But despite all this, Sarah's knee remains unstable and painful and it's taking its toll on her mental health. Various surgeons have refused to amputate her leg and recommend that she either accept her existing level of disability or agree to further operations. But Sarah is adamant - she wants her leg amputated. She doesn't want to live as she is and has lost faith in the medical profession's ability to give her a knee that will enable her to be active. The surgeon is caught in a dilemma - he appreciates how she feels but should he amputate her leg? Joan Bakewell and her panel discuss the issues. Producer: Beth Eastwood. Photo credit: EITAN ABRAMOVICH/AFP/Getty Images