Active mum had leg amputated while awake after running pain in knee turned out to be peach-sized tumour

A mother-of-four was forced to have her leg amputated while conscious after knee pain she experienced when running turned out to be a benign tumour the size of a peach.

Camilla Collins, 45, who lives in Camberley, Surrey, with her husband, Henry, 46, and their children, whom she did not wish to name, was a “very active” person until 2018 when she experienced a sudden pain in her knee while running.

It was found she had a non-cancerous but aggressive tumour developing in her bone after a mass measuring 6cm by 8cm (2.4in by 3.2in) was discovered, and operations to remove it were unsuccessful as it “clung on”.

Faced with amputation or the disease possibly spreading to her organs, Camilla underwent a major operation to have her right leg amputated while awake and without family nearby because it was the first week of the Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020 – and she can “still hear the bone saw” to this day.

Camilla has had eight operations on her leg in total and, after facing several complications with prosthetics, she is now looking into a final, ninth procedure to embed metal into her bone and integrate a prosthetic with her leg.

The operation would help her walk again and enjoy the “ordinary” aspects of everyday life – but, because it is unavailable on the NHS, it could cost up to £140,000 so Camilla’s loved ones have launched a GoFundMe page to support her.

“Your children’s years are such a small amount of time and they’re really precious – it’s really frustrating when you can’t do things with them,” Camilla told PA Real Life.

“I’ve never been able to hold the hand of my youngest child while crossing a road because I’ve been on crutches or not able to walk.

“There are so many things I want to do – even ordinary things such as loading the dishwasher, hanging out the washing and going on the school run without worrying.

“People always assume an amputee will get a prosthetic, which they can and everyone has access, but whether it works out for you in the way you hope, it’s not always like that.”

Camilla said she was once a “very active” person but she suddenly experienced an “excruciating” pain just below her right knee while out for a run in October 2018.

Thinking at first that it was a strain or shin splint, Camilla rested up but soon started waking up in the middle of the night with a “nasty ache in the bone”.

She visited her GP, who suggested she attend her local hospital for an X-ray – where a peach-sized mass was discovered.

After undergoing scans and biopsies at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford, Camilla was diagnosed with Giant Cell Tumour of the bone – and, while benign, the tumours can behave aggressively and grow quickly, and in rare cases they can become cancerous, according to Sarcoma UK.

Camilla underwent two operations – one in January 2019 to remove the tumour and fill the space with bone cement, and another in October 2019 to replace a section of her tibia and knee joint with metal.

However, both were unsuccessful in controlling the growth of the tumour, which spread to her soft tissue, and the second operation left her unable to move her right foot.

“I kept thinking I was going to wake up and it was going to be a strange dream,” Camilla said.

After taking advice from her doctor in January 2020, Camilla was informed the best course of action to save her life was to amputate her leg.

“If it was on the loose, it could go to my lungs,” she said.

“I had almost reached that point anyway and I thought it would be the best chance of being mobile again by going down the prosthetic route.

Camilla underwent her amputation surgery at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, north-west London, on March 24 2020 – the first week of the first national lockdown.

“Henry had to drop me at the door with all my stuff,” she said.

“I was really scared and I did feel really alone.

“The anaesthetists explained they weren’t going to use general anaesthetic because you’ve got tubes going directly into your airways and they were concerned about how Covid was spreading.”

Camilla said she was given an injection into her spine to numb her lower half but the sounds of the surgery remain.

“I can still hear it in my head now, the bone saw, it was really loud,” she said.

“It never goes and it replays in your head.”

Due to the pandemic, Camilla was discharged just two days later to recover at home to ensure she was not at risk of coronavirus.

“I set about trying to find out how I can make myself the strongest possible, both physically and mentally,” she said.

“For me, as a mother, that was the best and only way forward.”

She started practising yoga and Pilates exercises to build up her strength, and she would speak with her physiotherapists over Zoom.

Six weeks after the amputation, Camilla started exploring prosthetics to get back on two feet – but years of complications followed.

The cast-made socket on a prosthetic, made from a mould of Camilla’s leg, caused intense pain and created friction within her residual limb.

Camilla underwent four further operations to revise the amputation and correct complications between 2020 and 2024, but in March this year an MRI scan found there was a “huge volume of fluid” in her leg.

Her doctors then introduced her to a procedure known as osseointegration – a prosthetic surgery where the bone becomes fused with a metal implant, removing the need for a socket.

“Hearing this, I lit up… I felt reassured there was still the possibility I could have the opportunity to walk again,” she said.

However, the surgery is not available on the NHS and Camilla estimates it could cost £140,000 – prompting her loved ones to set up a GoFundMe page where they will be organising fundraising events to help with the fees, raising more than £1,800 so far.

“It would be a complete game-changer, it would give me back so many possibilities and allow me to enjoy everyday life with my family,” Camilla said.

To find out more, visit Camilla’s fundraising page here: gofundme.com/f/my-very-brave-friend-camilla