Mum had hand amputated after nagging pain turned out to be stage 4 cancer

A mum had to have her hand amputated after a nagging soreness revealed a 3.9 cm tumour and a devastating diagnosis of stage 4 cancer.

Jane O’Keeff, from Cork in Ireland, began noticing discomfort in her right hand roughly three years ago while out walking with her then five-month-old baby Róisín, reports Cork Beo.

The 38-year-old first dismissed it thinking it was just strain from pushing a buggy, but the discomfort persisted, eventually leading her to seek medical attention.

To her shock, the check revealed a sinister tumour nestled within her hand and was diagnosed with rare Clear Cell Sarcoma.

Chemotherapy and radiotherapy wouldn't treat the cancer and the only option was amputation of her right hand.

In a candid conversation on the Neil Prendeville Show on Red FM, Jane reflected: "It just doesn't respond to normal therapies... so I had to have my right hand amputated."

Post-amputation presented a myriad of challenges, from relearning simple tasks like dressing and tying her hair to navigating the intricacies of driving.

A manual car driver her whole life, Jane faced the daunting task of adapting to an automatic vehicle with only one hand.

Despite her profound physical limitations, Jane found herself ineligible for crucial support.

She discovered that existing schemes for amputees required the loss of both hands to qualify for benefits such as VRT exemption or a Blue Badge.

She is now calling for change, advocating before governmental bodies for inclusive policies that recognise the unique needs of single-arm amputees.

She said: "There's a lot of people who have become single-arm amputees for one reason or another."

She shared: "Unfortunately my cancer returned in October just gone, so it's now stage 4. We don't know, is the long and the short of it. We just kind of have to take each day as it comes and just see what happens.

"We had thought we would get a bit longer than we got before it came back. But that's just the luck of the draw really, isn't it?"

Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.