Teenager’s amputated foot is reattached backwards to replace his knee joint after cancer destroyed his leg

A cancer-stricken teen had his foot amputated and reattached BACKWARDS to replace his knee joint after a tumour destroyed his leg.

Tristin Stewart, 15, learnt to walk again after the revolutionary operation saw surgeons remove his shin and knee to give him a fighting chance of life.

After reattaching the foot, doctors were able to recreate a knee joint so that the football-mad youngster will still be able to play his favourite sport.

Tristin's mother, Mandy, 32, said: "Tristin was so brave throughout the whole process, until he was told that he'd have to have an amputation.

"The thought of not being able to play football or do any sport destroyed him - he's always been an active boy.

"Tristin was initially scared before the operation, and he marked his right leg to make sure that they took the right one off.

"When we first saw his foot-knee it was a very shocking – but we're all used to it now.

"He loves sport so much that he's now hoping to one day become a Paralympian and he's currently focusing on trying to run with his prosthetic."

Tristan, from Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of soft tissue cancer known as synovial sarcoma in his right leg last June.

He had spent two years in crippling pain after doctors disregarded it as growing pains as he was only 12-years-old.

Finally in February 2017 the teenager had a lump removed from his leg which was later identified as a cancerous tumour.

Mandy said: "We were given two options – they could undergo a full amputation of Tristin's right leg, or a rotationplasty.

"It took a couple of weeks before Tristin turned round and confidently said he wanted the rotationplasty, he told me 'Mummy, that means I'll have a knee and more function.'

"On June 7 2017 Tristin then had his operation, and we were told it was the first of its kind to happen in Northern Ireland.

"When went in to see him after the operation you could see under the covers that his leg was gone, and Shane and I were nervous to see what underneath.

It is used to preserve more mobility after removing the diseased portion of bone.

During the operation, surgeons will replace the knee joint with the ankle joint by roating the leg halfway around, then reattaching it.

The patient is then fitted with an artificial prosthesis to replace the missing lower leg.

Rotationplasty allows for better function than amputation, with patients able to walk more efficiently.

"It was a very strange sight and it was something almost supernatural to see – but it saved my boy so that's all that matters!"

Since his operation, Tristin has been learning to walk again with his prosthetic attachment and is now focusing on learning to run again.

Mandy added: "After his operation he had to have his foot forced to be completely straight, so that it would work as a knee joint.

"Now he has just come off of using crutches and can walk freely with his prosthetics.

"He's doing really well at the moment and his main focus is on one day being able to run and play football again.

"Despite his cancer being slow growing, there's always a chance of it coming back one day, we're just taking every day as it comes."

Tristin and family are now raising money for a prosthetic that will allow him to run again, to donate click here.

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