Dear Sir, - May another one-legged girl contribute to your correspondence columns? I was interested to read a letter in the Surprise Number from "One High Heeled Shoe." In fact that is what inspired me to write to you.
I, too, are minus my left leg from well above the knee, only I am an experienced monopede, for it was amputated nearly five years ago, when I was eighteen.
I wonder if any of your readers would be interested to hear of my activities. I ride a bicycle, swim, and tramp quite long distances. I have never worn an artificial leg, nor have I any great desire to own one. I have heard unpleasant tales about them causing cancer, due to the constant rubbing, and in any case I don't think I could be bothered with straps and a tight belt which seem to be necessary accessories to them. Outside I use a crutch, but in the house and garden, which is secluded, I wear a peg-leg, and I still find walking on it quite a thrill. I'm afraid I haven't had the courage to wear it in public, because I find that I am stared at quite enough as it is - partly, I suppose, due to the fact that I am accounted rather pretty and have a good figure; also my remaining leg is shapely, and I always wear a high-heed shoe. This latter whim of mine is looked upon by my friends as being the height of foolishness, for they say that I might so easily overbalance and fall.
However, I have never yet had a serious tumble, and don't think I ever shall, for I can stand without any aid, and hop about my bedroom and in fact, all over the house, just as well and as quickly poised on one 4 inch heel as any of my friends and well-wishers can manage to get about on two!
Of course there is a lot that is unpleasant about going through one's life with only one leg, and there is a great deal of discomfort, too, especially at first! But there is a lot that is rather thrilling about it. Perhaps it is the attraction which some people seem to find in one which I don't think they would if it were not for one's misfortune (so-called).
If there are any other readers of "London Life" who are monopedes, can't we have some letters from them telling us their ideas and experiences?
Yours truly,
Five Toes.