Bed-Bound 50-Stone Elephantiasis Woman Walks Again After Having Legs Drained

Five
years
since
she
took
to
her
bed,
42-
year-
old
Sophia
Loot
from
South
Africa is walking again, after a leg operation
gave her back her freedom.
When Sophia's weight ballooned from a
size 14 and 14 stone to almost 50 stone
after being bitten by a mosquito in 2006,
the foster mother of two was too ashamed
of her weight to go to the hospital for a
diagnosis -- thinking it was down to
overeating.
However, after half a decade spent pinned
to her bed by enormous legs weighing
almost 10 stone each, she has finally taken
action.
A radical diet and surgery, combined with a
surgical procedure that drained her legs,
and stripped them of excess flesh, has
allowed her to take her first steps for years.
Sophia was also diagnosed with a genetic
form of lymphedema, which caused her
skin to thicken and swelled further.
Lymphedema, aka elephantiasis, can be
brought on by emotional distress and
Sophia had previously lost her father and
had a stillborn child.
According to the World Health
Organisation, more than 1.3 billion people
in 72 countries worldwide are threatened
by lymphatic filariasis, commonly known as
elephantiasis.
Of the 120 million people currently
infected, 40 million are disfigured and
incapacitated by the disease, which causes
the abnormal enlargement of body parts.
Sophia, from Cape Town, grew so heavy
she was unable to perform simple tasks
such as washing or going to the toilet
unaided.
And as Sophia turned to food for comfort,
her weight continued to grow.
Eventually she fell into a spiral of
depression due to the emotional impact of
her condition.
However, following a public appeal to save
her life Sophia was put on a radical diet
plan and lost enough weight to be eligible
for surgery.
She said: "I honestly thought I was going to
die in my bed. It was terrible. My kids had
to come home from school to help me go
to the toilet.
"My husband worked away a lot and I
spent my time alone in bed knitting or
listening to the radio or in tears."
Sophia's eating got so out of control
she was eating thousands of calories
per day and do no exercise.
In a single day she would eat a loaf
and a half of bread with a block of
cheese, 10 cups of coffee with five
sugars and cream, two litres of cola
and three family bags of crisps.
She said: "Food was my only comfort
in the end.
"In the space of five years I lost
everything, I could barely call myself a
mum.
"My legs felt like they were on fire all the
time. I was in agony - it was torture."
Sophia and her husband Manie, 66,
fostered Marita, 17, and Nolene, 13, ten
years ago, but the girls ended up caring for
Sophia.
At one point it took five people to lift
Sophia's legs to be able to wash her.
But after having surgery to drain her legs
and remove the excess skin, Sophia is now
down to 20 stone.
She said: "What I've been through is
nothing short of a miracle.
"I was introduced to a dietician called
Christo Strydam who created a diet
especially for people like me. In the first
month on my diet I lost a stone and a half.
"Taking my first steps in five years was very
emotional."