A woman has been left with huge regrets after spending a fortune to extend her legs by 5.5 inches.
Theresia Fischer, an influencer and a former contestant on German Celebrity Big Brother, 31, stood at five foot six when she underwent the unusual procedure at age 24.
She claimed that her decision was driven by her ex-partner, who told her that he liked ‘big ladies’, as per the Daily Star.
She recalled to radio station MDR Jump: “‘Theresia, you know I like big ladies. So I would really like this. You could get up to 14 centimetres more’.
“[He would say] ‘you can’t do anything without me. You need me’.
“And if you are told that 20, 30, 60, 70 times – then you believe that you are nothing without him.”In an attempt to please her ex-boyfriend, Fischer underwent a brutal procedure that consisted of inserting adjustable telescopic rods into her shins.
The nails are gradually extended over the next three months by one millimetre a day – eventually making the patient several inches taller.
Fischer shares that ‘ten clicks a day on each side bring an additional 0.5 millimetres [0.02 inches]’.
The model now stands at over six feet tall.
The surgery reportedly cost $124,000 – but medications and physical therapy bumped her total bill up to $161,000.
According to GQ, the procedure can cost anything around $70,000 to $150,000, depending on how many inches the patient wants to ‘grow’, on top of the thousands of dollars spent in follow-up costs.
While the surgery is pretty much unheard of, the model did admit that she was initially tempted by it – despite being ‘happy’ with her body.
But she now feels a sense of ‘shame’ about drastically altering her looks.
Fischer explained: “I am ashamed because I consented to an operation that shouldn’t have had.
“I’ve never dealt with that before because I’ve always been happy with my body.”
While she may have some regrets about the surgery now, Fischer was actually quite happy about with the results of her life-changing procedure back in 2019.
She said at the time (via Daily Star): “My s** is better now… I have become very flexible with my legs and have more room to manoeuvre in bed.”
The model also added that she felt the surgery would help her deal with bullying on social media – but in fact, she has endured more trolling online.
Fischer continued: “I now feel happy and satisfied with my legs, but I’m hit by a wave of hate on the Internet. It hurts me a lot. With the leg-lengthening procedure.
“I found myself and finally overcame my old trauma from being bullied.”