A woman is sharing her excruciating ordeal after bunions on her feet had caused her bones to shatter – and now she’s learning how to walk again.
Growing up, Beth Duarte loved wearing the latest trendy shoes – from heels to sandals – but when she began noticing subtle bumps popping up on her feet, she knew something was wrong.
The 33-year-old soon found it “impossible” to wear her favourite footwear as the lumps turned into “excruciating” blisters on the side of her feet and toes, leaving her feeling embarrassed when leaving the house.
But it wasn’t until she was on holiday with her now husband, Ismael, 34, that the operations specialist took action – and was told that she needed emergency surgery to repair the damage or her bones would keep breaking.
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“I couldn’t believe it when I was told that I had fractured my calf bone because of how I was walking,” Beth, from California, US, told Need To Know.
“I knew I was suffering from bunions quite early on, but as they didn’t bother me much to begin with, I put them to the back of my mind.
“But over time, they worsened and became so painful that I could barely walk.
“On nights out, people would ask what was wrong with my feet and I was left feeling so embarrassed.
“While I had left getting them checked out for so long, despite not being able to walk properly, I wasn’t expecting for the damage to be so bad.”
Beth, who had previously consulted a doctor, claims that the recommended operation to fix her feet would put her on bedrest for months – which she didn’t want to go through.
As a result, she continued on with life as normal and went on to meet her aforementioned husband, Ismael, in 2011.
Although he wasn’t bothered about her misshapen feet, she began to feel self-conscious about how she looked when walking – and the appearance of the lumps.
She said: “I was trying so hard to walk normally and wear shoes like everyone else, but it was so painful.
“While on holiday, my ankle became very swollen, red and painful to the touch.
“I figured I was having a flare up from my autoimmune condition, lupus.
“To manage the pain, I was taking pain killers and purchasing anti-inflammatory cream.
“I had no idea I had a broken bone.
“I hoped it would settle when we were back home, but it kept getting worse and I had developed a permanent limp.
“A week after arriving back, I decided to visit urgent care, but was quickly referred to the emergency room at the hospital.
“After an ultrasound and x-rays, I was told that I had fractured my fibula and was put in a temporary splint.
“I was also referred to an orthopaedic specialist.
“It turns out, the bunions had forced the front of my foot so far out, that my heel had to compensate.
“With each step, my fibula collided with the bones in my heel, causing them to fracture.”
Beth made the decision to go with reconstructive surgery on her left foot in August 2023.
She had two separate procedures, with up to a year for recovery.
As she had to have her foot realigned, there was long recovery ahead – from learning how to walk again to finding the right shoes that wouldn’t cause any further issues.
She added: “It’s been a long battle and one I don’t want to go through again.
“Bunions can be so serious if left untreated and I wish I had resolved this issue years before, so it didn’t come to the point of me fracturing my fibula.
“I have another procedure ahead for my right foot, where I’ll have to learn how to walk once again.
“For now, the silver lining is that I can bask in the joy of a successful surgery process and recovery of my foot.”
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