Competing in a charity fun run almost lost 39-year-old Melissa King her left leg. Shortly after going for the 6-mile run, she explained that she began to lose all sensation in her left leg. The more time that passed, the more her condition worsened until she felt like her leg was about to ‘explode.’
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What happened to this woman is something called compartment syndrome, which consists of an abnormal increase in the fibrous membranes that surround the muscles, acting as a separation between them. The pressure then results in insufficient blood supply to the affected tissue.
A rare medical condition
The leg and the arm are the two areas the most commonly affected, and the condition can be either acute or chronic. This syndrome can be quite dangerous, leading to amputation and even death.
It is most commonly due to trauma such as a bone fracture, which is the case 75% of the time, but also due to poor blood flow. The latter seems to be the case with Melissa, who required surgery.
Melissa was rushed to the hospital and within hours her leg had almost doubled in size. Hastily operated on, Melissa King was lucky to get out of the situation with only 160 stitches, although a year later Melissa still had to undergo physiotherapy.
