A mother of three who suffered crippling foot pain for 15 years despite having four operations to try and fix the problem was eventually cured after a beautician yanked her toe during a pedicure.
Debbie Thompson, 54, from Bath, Somerset, suffered an injury to her metatarsal in 2001 which left her with a one centimetre lump of bone protruding from the ball of her left foot.
The former ballet dancer was left in severe pain and was forced to limp, use a wheelchair or wear thick-soled shoes or flip flops every hour of the day to cushion the joint.
She even underwent four operations to try and resolve the problem but they failed to help and she eventually gave up hope as podiatrists and surgeons were left stumped as to how to fix the injury.
However, when she hobbled into a nail salon last month for a pedicure, her life was miraculously turned around – when a nail technician simply popped her toe into place.
Pedicurist Holly Pope, who has been working in the industry for less than a year, cured her pain by jerking her fourth toe into place.
Ms Thompson, a volunteer hospital chaplain, said: ‘The lady was giving me this wonderful pedicure.
‘She pulled my toe and there was this loud click, and it just popped into place.
‘I thought I was going to pass out with the pain, it was so intense. I managed to stagger to the car and get into bed.
‘It wasn’t until a bit later when I stood up again that I noticed my foot felt different.
‘I ran my finger along the bottom of my sole and the bone had gone. I couldn’t believe it.’
She’s had 14 years of problems with the foot until a nail technician gave her a pedicure.
‘I’m 54 and for the last 15 years I haven’t been able to wear a heel.
‘Throughout my forties, when I was supposed to feel quite elegant, I was been forced to wear ugly, thick-soled shoes.
‘Now, I might be able to wear heels next year, when my two daughters get married. I’m just so excited.
‘I can play with my grandchildren now, and I can’t wait to run across the beach when I go on holiday next year.’
She went back to salon to thank 43-year-old Ms Pope and said they both ‘burst into tears’.
The mother-of-one beautician said: ‘It was just a normal pedicure. I just held her toe and held the bottom of her foot in my other hand.
‘I could feel the bone was not correct, and I usually just massage it as I feel.
‘But something happened. I was playing with the joint and it made a loud click. I could see it hurt, so I stopped.
‘When Debbie came back into the salon a few days later, I was really worried because she was in tears.
‘But she told me I’ve changed her life. It was a miracle. I’m so happy to have made a difference.’
What’s the lesson here? Well, what do you get in Great Britain?
The National Health Service, that’s what you get. You get four quack operations that don’t help anything when all that was needed was to pop that toe back into place.
Anybody who wants to bring government health care to this country needs to see this story and think long and hard whether this is really what they want.
Those doctors, were they in America, would rightfully be looking at malpractice suits. But you can’t sue the NHS in Great Britain.