00:01 JEFFREY: I believe that having the amputation
on my foot, would help me walk, move myself around.
Be able to wear shoes again.
It's not easy, I'm sorry.
00:21 COMM: 26-year-old Jeffrey Ortega has a condition
called proteus syndrome, which affects only two hundred people in the world.
It's character used by overgrowth of the bones, skin and tissue, and has affected Jeffrey's
hands, hips, legs and most of all his feet, which are a size sixteen.
00:41 JEFFREY: It started underneath the sole of
the foot and then over the years it kept on growing.
00:46 COMM: The condition affects his quality of
life so much that Jeffrey feels the only solution is having his left foot amputated.
But he can't afford the operation.
00:56 JEFFREY: It would help me y'know in many ways
because it's been very painful the last couple of years.
Unfortunately I don't have the sources for it, I'm in the desperate need of amputation.
01:07 COMM: Jeffrey's condition became apparent
when he was only a baby and progressed quickly.
By the age of eleven he was unable to wear regular shoes because his feet were too big.
01:21 JEFFREY: I used to be wearing just socks or
bare feet.
I was bullied a lot, from being spit on, making fun of the shoes.
They used to say that I used to wear my dad's shoes.
01:32 COMM: Jeffrey's mother Alicia also faced prejudice
due to her son's rare condition.
01:37 ALICIA: I decided to move to an apartment
with a swimming pool because I thought that would be good for improving the movement of
his body, but the other residents said no.
When Jeffrey was in the swimming pool other people wouldn't go in the pool.
They said if we wanted to keep living there we needed a letter saying his illness was
not contagious.
That hurt.
02:06 COMM: One of the biggest challenges for Jeffrey
and his mother, is keeping his feet clean because of the crevices that have formed in
his swollen flesh.
02:14 JEFFREY: If I didn't wash my feet during the
day when I was in college the odour was so strong that even flies started falling on
my feet.
02:27 COMM: Jeffrey has been wearing the same shoes
for the past four years, because it's nearly impossible for him to find a pair that fit
him.
02:35 JEFFREY: It's sad for me to go to a store
and see my family find shoes, and they find them with no problem and for me I have to
ask at the store manager.
It's not easy, it bring me down.
It does kill me because - I'm sorry.
02:58 TOM: I've never seen anyone come in before
with Jeffrey's condition.
It's first for us and we've been here for twenty years.
I think getting something that's going to fit him customised is going to be better than
something that's generic, off the shelf which really isn't going to be good for his foot.
03:17 COMM: So far Jeffrey has had eleven unsuccessful
surgeries performed on his legs.
He's now so desperate to improve his quality of life he's considering extreme measures.
03:28 JEFFREY: The good solution we thought of,
amputation.
It would help me because I could walk again, and even I wouldn't have to use a wheelchair
any more.
I can start walking.
03:39 COMM: Jeffrey says that doctors have agreed
to amputate but only if he can fund the operation himself.
03:45 JEFFREY: On the GoFundMe.com I put in the
campaign.
The whole procedure it costs almost in the $30,000 to $40,000.
Because it can be from the process of doing the surgery, buying the prosthetic and doing
the follow ups.
04:01 ALICIA: It's difficult.
I'm above all a lonely woman with a son.
But God has always sent angels our way.
Always.
Our biggest wish is that someone with a good heart will help us with the amputation and
the prostheses.
That is our biggest wish.