Teenager Harriet Wright asked doctors to amputate her leg – so that she could walk again.
Harriet, 15, was born with a club foot, she only had a third of the calf muscle she should have had in her left leg, and she had severe arthritis in her ankle joints.
She also had foot drop – the inability to lift the foot and toes properly when walking.
As a result, she experienced years of treatments and pain.
So, four months ago, the schoolgirl took the decision to have her leg amputated. And she's said it was the best decision she has ever made.
For not only can she walk again – she has even joined a marching band for her beloved Air Cadets.
Harriet, from Stockport, Greater Manchester, told her local paper: "The operation was the best thing in the world for me.
"I was in a wheelchair for a year before the operation. It really got me down that I couldn't march alongside my peers, I hated being in the wheelchair, unfortunately the pain stopped me from being able to do it.
"Now, 12 months on, I can stand on parade and will be doing full marches with the Air Cadets in the coming months.
"To stand alongside them and bang the drum was the best feeling in the world. It may have rained on the parade, but nothing can take away the sense of joy I have at being able to stand tall without the pain.
"I was in constant pain before and in last year's march I was in a wheelchair in agony with my foot and ankle hurting so much.
"There is not a hint of regret about the decision. I had no doubts that what I was doing was the right thing."
She added: "Before the operation my consultant asked, 'What will you do if the man who loves you says something about your limb?' But I replied that doesn't matter, he'll love me for who I am."
Her mother, Amanda, 47, said: "Harriet got an A in the exam just a week after the operation and we are all in awe of her, she is inspirational. When she had her operation, she simply said it was the best thing in the world, there was not a hint of regret.
"We had discussed it two years before and the consultants wanted second opinions to make sure, but Harriet started deteriorating quite rapidly - her movement became more and more limited.
"When she was walking in the house she would be breaking her toes, she did it six or seven times as if she didn't pick her knee up high enough, her toes would drag behind and break if she knocked them on the stairs or the floor."
Harriet is now trying to raise money for two new prosthetic limbs not available on the NHS - one for social purposes and another for cycling. To donate, visit www.justgiving.com/local/project/HarrietsFundraisingPage/