NEED TO KNOW
Megan Dixon, 21, has endured years of severe health challenges due to a functional neurological disorder and other complications
Doctors determined amputation is her only option after irreversible damage left her legs locked at painful angles
Dixon is fundraising for a specialist wheelchair and hopes to inspire others by sharing her journey on TikTok
After a woman’s legs bent at a 45-degree angle upwards, she will now need to have them amputated.
Megan Dixon, who lives in Cambridgeshire, U.K., suffers from functional neurological disorder (FND) and has spent the last eight years with her legs locked.
Doctors have now told her that amputation is the “best and only option,” Dixon, 21, said, according to Kennedy News & Media.
Megan Dixon
Credit: Tom Maddick/SWNS
When she was 13, she began experiencing whooping cough and glandular fever. She has not walked since she was 14, and was initially diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME).
“From there I got worse and worse,” she said. “I started to go into a comatose-like state. When I was 16, I stopped being able to sit up by myself and I started to lose the ability to speak.”
She was taken to Bristol Hospital, where she lost her speech, mobility, strength and her sight. “I could feel my bones in my legs grating together, but I kept being told the pain was in my head and it wasn’t real,” she said. “I was silently screaming for 24 hours a day.”
Oliver Carrick and Megan Dixon
Credit: Tom Maddick/SWNS
“When I went into a coma-like state, I had no idea what was going on. No one could wake me up,” Dixon added. “My legs were completely locked straight and even under an anesthetic, they couldn’t bend my knees.”
She was then diagnosed with FND, which can cause symptoms like seizure-like episodes, pain, movement problems and more, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Dixon was discharged from the hospital when she was 18, as it was a children’s hospital, and was transferred to Eagle Wood Neurological Care Center, according to the BBC. She was once having up to 50 seizures a day, but that has reduced to 10 to 15, as of April 2025.
Megan Dixon’s legs
Credit: Tom Maddick/SWNS
“I was getting to the point that I nearly died in hospital. My body just shut down that much,” Dixon said at the time. “The doctors did have to tell my parents to prepare for the worst — they didn’t think I would make it to 18 and here I am at 20.”
“My family complained about my care and I was sent to a private nursing home specializing in neurological disorders,” she explained. “I was completely paralyzed from the neck down and I had to work on getting all of my functions back.”
However, Dixon’s legs were only getting worse and she says five different surgeons turned her away. “When I finally found a surgeon to help me, it had been so long that the damage in my knees was irreversible,” she said.
“My left knee is bent at a 45-degree angle and my right is close behind. My only option left is amputation,” Dixon added, noting that she either has to “bum shuffle” or rely on her wheelchair to get around.
“Getting from the floor to the bed is absolute agony for me because of the weight and pressure through my knees,” she continued. “I have to be carried to the bed or the toilet, and simple tasks take me so much longer.”
Dixon expressed that she wants to “be able to go out with my partner, visiting the zoo, and have him by my side holding hands,” but her “last resort and only option” is to have her legs amputated, which she is set to do this August.
She is currently fundraising on GoFundMe to afford a specialist wheelchair, other medical treatment and general financial support for medical bills.
Dixon also told the BBC that she is hopeful of becoming a nail technician.
“If you are facing amputation, I want to be honest with you — there are no words that can truly make it easier. It is a devastating and life-changing experience, and something I would never wish on anyone,” she said.
“All you can do is take it one day at a time,” the 21-year-old continued. “There will be days when it feels overwhelming, and that’s okay. Allow yourself to feel everything that comes with this journey. Struggling doesn’t mean you are weak — it means you are human.”
Along the way, Dixon has documented her experiences on TikTok with the hopes of helping others. She also shared that she recently got engaged to her partner, Oliver Carrick, with a Disney celebration, expressing that “being disabled doesn’t mean you aren’t lovable.”
In another video, she shared that her now-fiancé and soon-to-be father-in-law built her a ramp so she could use a wheelchair to access her backyard garden.
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She added to her message of hope for others going through similar experiences, “But even in the darkest moments, try to hold on to the smallest positives. Sometimes hope comes in the smallest forms: a kind word, a moment of strength, or simply getting through another day.”
“Keep fighting for the life that comes after,” Dixon added. “None of us should have to face something like this, but if it leads to a future where life is a little more bearable, a little less painful, and holds more independence. Then all of this will be worth it.”
Read the original article on People