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Story from Jam Press (Amputated Cheerleader)
Pictured: Brooke in hospital.
Cheerleader, 18, has leg amputated after freak clot cuts off circulation
A “healthy and strong” cheerleader, who had to have her leg amputated after a freak blood clot cut off her circulation, has made a triumphant return to the sport.
Brooke Walker had been competing since the age of 12, holding both national and international titles, but last February, she started to experience mild pain in her left hip.
Being an athlete, she was used to aches and injuries and tried to push through, but the pain intensified so much that she couldn’t sleep at night or focus at school.
The teen was horrified when doctors discovered the cause – and within a month, on 21 March, her leg was cut off, changing her life forever.
"At first, I was in shock,” Brooke from Texas, US, told Need To Know.
“I couldn't believe that it was happening.
“Then, slowly but surely, reality started to set in.
“I cried for countless hours, mourning the life I had lost.
"But I knew that my life would never be the same."
The first sign that something was wrong came in February 2023.
Brooke said: "I began to feel some pain in my left hip at cheer practice.
"Being an athlete means aches and pains all the time.
“I had pushed through pain before, and I thought this time would be no different.
"A month later, the pain was in my foot and it was so intense I couldn't sleep or focus at school.
"I was pushing through the tears so I could compete at a national cheer competition in March.
"I completed the competition, but that night the pain became unbearable.
"My mum got me to urgent care early the next morning.
“Imaging of my foot showed an extreme lack of blood flow.
“They told me to get to the emergency room immediately.”
Doctors at the emergency room performed a number of tests on Brooke, which eventually revealed that she had five blood clots in the three arteries that carry blood through the a