Dear Sir, - I have notice with regret the falling off of stories and letters from and about one-legged people. I need not point out that this subject is of great interest to very many of your readers, and I certainly think that a little space to be given at least once a month to the subject, which is so fascinating to many of us.
The suggestion of Wallace Stort's re photos is a very good one, but why not endeavour to obtain photos of everyday one-legged ladies7 There are certainly a good many about.
I wonder if my little story would interest those of your readers who have the "limbless complex"?
I am 27, and have been one-legged for nineteen years, having had my left leg amputated at the knee as a result of an accident.
I have never used an artificial limb, but as a growing child I did use a wooden peg leg for some years, but discarded it when I reached my sixteenth birthday, as I considered that it was very unsightly used in conjunction with the short skirts then in fashion, and it was a source of constant annoyance to me as it was quite rigid and had a really wonderful habit of getting in other peoples way.
Since then I have used a single crutch of the revolving head bow pattern, which is very light and quite comfortable when one has got used to it.
I have never let my one-leggedness stop me from enjoying myself, and I am quite agile and not at all self-conscious, apart from the fact that I cannot dance and take part in games. And as I have never done either of these things I do not miss them, and am able to walk for quite long distances without getting tired.
I dress smartly and do not neglect my looks, and I know, and have been told, that I am every bit as attractive as others who have a full complement of limbs.
Five years ago I was walking down a busy London street doing my shopping, keeping close to the edge of the pavement, when my crutch slipped away from me, and I fell. My crutch fell into the roadway and was run over by a passing car and broken.
Before the usual crowd had a fair chance to assemble, a young man lifted me up and carried me into a nearby teashop, and suggested that I remained there until the crowd had dispersed and until he could get a taxi.
I thanked him and fell in with his suggestion, and then complimented him and his presence of mind in getting me away from an embarrassing situation.
The taxi ride was of necessity a long one, and in the course of it we talked of many things and soon found out that a thing I had for a long time suspected was true - that a one-legged girl has a certain definite attraction and appeal to many people.
The man admitted that he had been following me for some time, and naturally jumped at the chance which gave him an opportunity of getting to know a one-legged girl.
In the end I arrived at my home and was carried inside. I could do no less than asking him to stay to tea, and our chance meeting ripened in time to a very warm friendship.
Almost all our spare time was spent together, and I learned many things about the limbless complex.
He encouraged me to do so many things I had only attempted in a very half-hearted way before I met him, and among them was an ability to move around without a crutch, and also to wear a higher heel on my shoe than I had ever attempted to do, and now I wear a 5« inch heel (indoors, of course) and rarely use a support of any kind indoors, except when wearing my stilt heel, when I either have to use a crutch or to be carried.
Before we had been acquainted two years he asked me to marry him; and knowing that he realised my shortcomings, and also that I was able to do most of my own housework and all my cooking, I had little hesitation in accepting, with the result that we have now been married nearly three years, and have never regretted it.
I have one little son, and people have long ceased to stare at me as I walk out pushing the perambulator.
I hope this letter will induce some of your other one-legged readers to write. And might I say to those of your readers who have recently lost a leg that there are very many other things much worse that might have happened to them?
After a while the loss of a leg is accepted as the natural course of things, and many compensations are given to counterbalance the loss.
Above all do not neglect your own personal appearance. Be sensible, dress smartly, and do not go about with a "Pity a poor cripple" look on your face. One need not be a cripple even if a leg is missing.
Yours truly,
Stella