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A woman whose badly infected foot became mummified, then literally fell off, has won her legal fight to REFUSE a potentially life-saving leg amputation.

West Midlands medics this week lost their desperate bid to force the patient to undergo the op, after what started as a superficial ulcer on the woman’s foot turned gangrenous, a court heard.

When the foot ‘came off’ last month, medics warned the woman could die unless she agreed to amputation.

But the patient, who has suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, refused.

In a unique case, lawyers representing the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust rushed to the Court of Protection in London in a bid to win permission to carry out the op without the woman’s agreement.

But judge Mr Justice Peter Jackson ruled mental illness had not robbed her of the power to make rational decisions and medics will have to abide by her wishes, the Birmingham Mail reports.

A legal order prevents the media from identifying the patient or hospital concerned.

The judge said: “The freedom to choose for oneself is a part of what it means to be human.”

The ‘strong willed’ woman, aged in her 60s - referred to in court as ‘JB’ - had held down a responsible job, enjoyed art, reading and needlework.

However, she suffered serious health issues, including diabetes and circulation problems, worsened by heavy smoking.

The minor ulcer developed in May last year and worsened until she was admitted to hospital on New Year’s Eve.

The judge said: “Her right foot was now entirely mummified and, by the end of January, it had come off, leaving an unresolved wound.”

Surgeons advised that her right leg had to be removed to avoid the spread of gangrene, but she would not agree.

The Trust asked the court to declare that the woman ‘lacked capacity’ to choose for herself whether or not to have the op.

But the judge said: “My conclusion is that JB undoubtedly has a disturbance of the functioning of her mind in the form of paranoid schizophrenia, as to which she lacks insight.

“But it has not been established that she thereby lacks the capacity to make a decision about surgery for herself. On the contrary, the evidence establishes that she does have capacity to decide whether to undergo an amputation of whatever kind.”