I keep a chunk of my leg in the freezer after it was amputated - people always ask me the same question

Daily Mail​

3 days ago

A mental health nurse who had her leg amputated has revealed she keeps a chunk of it in her freezer - and always receives the same grisly question about it.
Milda Ambraževičiūtė, who trains with GB Para-Rowing when she's not working with patients, has documented her medical journey on social media.
In January 2024, she had a bouldering accident that shattered her Talus bone and left her in agony.
The debilitating pain led to sleep deprivation that was so severe that she experienced psychosis.
Having met with multiple surgeons and medical professionals, Milda accepted that having her lower leg removed was her only option if she wanted to live a life free from serious discomfort.
She finally had the amputation at the end of May this year and is currently learning to use a prosthetic.
The upbeat young woman, who has almost 35,000 followers on TikTok, recently posted a video in which she revealed the question that people ask when they find out that her leg is inside her freezer.
'Could you technically be allowed to eat it?', Milda says, is the somewhat unsavoury thought that preoccupies others.
In a clip posted last week, the NHS worker took the opportunity to tackle the common question head-on.
She says: 'I had my leg amputated and I kept my amputated leg.
'It is currently in the shed after we dissected it.'
A giggling Milda then goes on to explain that numerous people have asked if she and the friends who helped her dissect the leg could 'technically eat it'.
Unfazed, Milda says, 'I suppose, why not?', before adding, 'there is currently some leg in the freezer.'
She says that she and her friends intend to preserve the tattoo that she had on he ankle with formaldehyde.
Yet, eager to get to provide a comprehensive answer to the question she is always asked, Milda looked into the definition of cannibalism.
She explains that 'cannibalism is defined by how the human flesh/meat is obtained as opposed to the actual act of eating human meat.'
Milda suggests that this is to protect those who may have survived a plane crash and resort to eating dead passengers from being prosecuted later on.
She adds: 'I think legally and morally it is still cannibalism - but, technically, there's no reason I can't [eat it].'
Viewed almost 456,000 times, the video appears to have fascinated fellow TikTokers, leading hundreds of social media users to express their opinions and ask follow up questions.
One person asked: 'Can't you get sick from eating human flesh?'
Another said: 'My jaw dropped'.
While a third joked: 'Imagine someone comes over and you have to state: "Oh, by the way, don't mind the leg in the freezer, just move it to the side if you need to grab something'.
A fourth TikTok user agreed: '"There is currently some leg in the freezer" is one hell of a sentence'.
A fifth person, however, was not at all perturbed by Milda's admission, adding: 'This is 100 per cent something I would do.
'When you were dissecting the leg, did you get any phantoms or pains?'
Other users took the opportunity to express their regret at having not been able to keep things like teeth or, in one case, a thyroid.
One person lamented: 'I wanted to keep my thyroid and they wouldn't let me'.
While another added: 'Yet the dentists wouldn't let me take my tooth home to show the kids'.
Indeed, in a video published a couple of weeks earlier, Milda explained how she managed to obtain her amputated leg, while also pointing out that there's no one protocol when it comes to removed limbs in UK hospitals.
Presenting the cooler box which contained the leg, she said: 'I live in England and requested to keep my amputated ankle and I was allowed.
People responded to the mental health nurse's admission that she keeps a chunk of her leg in the freezer
But, in the video, which has had 1.5 million views, Milda insists: 'Legally, you're allowed to ask for it.
'I will say, each hospital has it's own policy - and they all do have to follow the Human Tissue Act.'
The Human Tissue Act 2004 is a UK law that controls the removal, storage and use of human tissue and organs.
'It is your limb and you should be allowed to keep it.'