A small lump that developed on a man’s knee when he was a teenager may have seemed unconcerning at first, but he never could have predicted just how much it would change his life, physically and emotionally.
Mohammed Mêrko was 15 years old when he noticed a small lump protruding below his knee. As it was the size of a grape and completely painless, Mêrko, now 22, told Newsweek that he thought it was “nothing major” initially. Nevertheless, he got the lump checked just to be sure. Doctors told him it was likely a bone overgrowth.
“There was not a single symptom when it first came,” Mêrko, of London, U.K., said. “I’d describe it as the size of a grape sticking out from right below my knee that was rock solid in texture.”
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Mêrko was scheduled for surgery to have the lump removed, only for COVID to strike and cause severe delays. Unfortunately, the lump continued to grow and doubled in size every six months. It quickly went from the size of a grape to that of a tennis ball, and before long it was growing all around the bone.
Due to its rapid growth, this was evidently no bone growth. Doctors became increasingly concerned, and testing revealed that the lump was in fact chondrosarcoma, a rare bone cancer.
“When I was told I had cancer, I was surprised but I actually didn’t believe it,” Mêrko said. “I convinced myself I didn’t have cancer because I thought there was no benefit in believing I had cancer (I feel as if that mentality helped me survive).
“The treatment was simple surgery to cut the tumor off the bone, but they didn’t remove it fully, so it grew back. It came back in 2023, and I received more immediate attention and support from doctors, but at this point, my financial situation made it impossible to take on the surgery and be out of work. All they did was scans of the lump repeatedly to monitor it.”
Over time, the lump continued to destroy Mêrko’s life. As it grew, it hindered his ability to bend his knee, to walk and it also became increasingly painful. By the time he was 20 years old, Mêrko could barely walk and was in constant severe pain.
It felt like a challenge initially, as Mêrko did everything he could to power through. However, everyone has their limits, and he told Newsweek that it began to ruin his mental health. “I felt like I was trapped in a dark well with no escape,” Mêrko said.
Given that the first surgery did not work, Mêrko tried to treat the cancer holistically. He felt that another surgery was “too drastic” and wanted to heal his body in other ways.
Unfortunately, that only put his health at more risk and the tumor grew significantly. What was previously the size of a grape was suddenly more like a soccer ball on his knee. It was painful and Mêrko was losing all quality of life, so he ultimately made the decision to go under the knife again in March 2026. Although this was not just to remove the tumor, but actually, to amputate his lower leg entirely.
The amputation was completed on March 24 and Mêrko hopes that he can finally start living his life once more.
“There was never really a point where I thought it was the right thing to do, I always thought amputation was too extreme. The only reason I went ahead with it was because of how unbearable the pain became. It was almost impossible to sleep at night and during the day it was excruciating. I was also mentally drained from battling this issue, it became far too much to handle. I wanted to move forward, and I realized this is unfortunately the only way,” he said.
Although Mêrko does experience phantom pains in his stump, he says that recovery has been a mostly positive experience. The thought of amputating his leg was once devastating, but now he views it as the best choice he could have made.
Following this lifechanging decision, the 22-year-old has documented his experience on TikTok (@mo.merko) to showcase the journey he has been through. He hopes to show just how grateful he is for everything this has taught him about himself.
Choosing the easy way out was never an option for Mêrko, and now he feels that some of the biggest challenges can actually prove to be a blessing.
“I feel better about myself and more confident after losing my leg than I ever did when I still had it. I felt empty and lost before because I had not experienced challenges in life that demanded my complete strength,” Mêrko said.
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Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Charlotte Nisbet and Emma Lee-Sang.