A woman who spent nine months in hospital needing 'three amputations' feels like she finally has her life back - after getting a bionic leg.

Emilia Lindquist, 27, was diagnosed with lupus - an autoimmune disease which occurs when the body attacks healthy tissues and organs - when she was 19.

But last year the disease caused a blood clot in her right leg, which soon turned into an infection.

Doctors tried to amputate below the knee twice - but ended up amputating above the knee, because she was in so much pain.

Now, Emilia says she's "finally" on the road to recovery - and is getting stronger every day, with her new bionic right leg. "

Emilia, a public health researcher from Stockholm, Sweden, said: "I thought my life would be over with an amputation - but I realise now, that I can be just as active as I was before. "

"There are lots of worse things that could've happened to me - I still have so much potential. "

"Now I'm stronger and more confident. I want to focus on walking further than 10 metres." "

In 2016, Emilia was diagnosed with lupus - and was told by doctors she was at an increased risk of developing blood clots throughout her body.

Seven years later, she had to stop taking blood thinners as a precaution, after undergoing stomach surgery to repair a hole in her intestine.

This caused a blood clot to form in her right thigh, and in April 2023, she was admitted back to hospital.

Emilia said: "Doctors initially thought I'd be able to leave it."

"They told me my left leg would work harder, to make up for the lack of blood flow in my right."

"But my knee wasn't getting enough oxygen - it became very clear this wasn't going to work, long term." "

Emilia's right leg developed an infection because of the blood clot - and doctors said it would be advisable to amputate.

On hearing this, Emilia's "gut reaction" was to refuse the surgery altogether. "

She worried her life would be over - as a self-confessed sports lover and keen runner.

But after speaking to friends of hers who are also amputees, she agreed to have the surgery the following month.

She said: "I originally got my right leg amputated below the knee in June 2023. "

"But, unfortunately, the amputation didn't heal. "

"So, they tried to amputate another 5cm - but that didn't heal, either."

Emilia spent seven months bedbound in hospital, and in excruciating pain.

She says she had an open wound on her leg, and wasn't able to exercise at all.

This led her to feeling severely depressed - and wondering if she'd ever be able to live a "normal life" again. "

"I was very sick for a long time," she said. "

"Everything felt really dark - there were six-to-seven months where I wasn't able to do anything."

But in January 2024, Emilia's care team made the decision to amputate above her knee.

She says her healing journey after the third surgery was "very different" - and she was discharged just two weeks later. "

Her left leg had been damaged in surgery - after a shunt burst in her thigh.

Alongside learning to walk with a prosthetic right leg, she was also needing to train her left leg to walk again.

"I'm nowhere near where I want to be, but I'm putting in so much work," she added. "

"By January, I'd been able to process all the negative feelings I had surrounding my amputation. "

"I was excited to learn about all the prosthetics available to me."

After 10 months of using a "basic prosthetic," Emilia has been approved to try a new bionic knee, not widely available yet, by brand Össur. "

This will enable her to go back to doing water sports and therapy - which a "hygiene" prosthetic, made of metal, hasn't allowed her to do. "

She said: "I want to get comfortable walking long-distance, not having to use my wheelchair. "

"I strength train my legs in the gym, three times a week. "

"I practice walking at physiotherapy - walking uphill and upstairs. "

"I'm just getting comfortable using the prosthetic, for the most part."

"But I feel it's giving me the potential to get my life back."