Boy, 11, ‘loving' life after opting for leg amputation

An 11-year-old says his genetic condition caused him so much "agony", he told his parents he wanted his leg cutting off.

Dillon Chapman from Somerset has a genetic condition called Type 1 Neurofibromatosis which meant that hundreds of tumours grew on the nerve endings in his leg causing him severe pain.

"If you threw a foamy little ball at my leg, it would hurt and I'd be in agony - I couldn't play any football", he said.

After seeing marines from Afghanistan with prosthetic limbs, Dillon did some research about amputation and asked his parents for permission to have his leg removed.

After the surgery, Dillon said: "Life has never been better - I'm just loving it now".

You can watch Dillon's story in BBC Three's The Boy Who Wants His Leg Cut Off: broadcast at 21:00 BST on 27 July.

This clip is originally from 5 live Breakfast on July 27 2015.