An aspiring model who was told she was too short for the catwalk spent has thousands of pounds having her legs surgically lengthened.

From the age of 14, Alexandra Transer from the city of Volgograd, in south-western Russia, wanted to be a model.

But being just 5.4ft (165cm) she was nowhere near the 6ft (183cm) needed.

So she decided to work and save up money to have radical surgery to make her legs longer.

Alexandra Transer, from Russia, paid £6,000 for leg extension surgery because her 5'4" frame meant she was too short to be a model. Her legs grew by 6cm (2.4 inches) in nine months. She is pictured before (left) and after (right) the procedure

Ms Transer had the operation - which involved attaching cages to both her legs, with screws turned daily to stretch them (pictured) - in order to fulfil her teenage dream of being a model

Ms Transer, now 30, was turned down by a modelling agency when she was 17. She began researching procedures to stretch her legs at that point, working to save up the money for the operation

She said: 'I had tried to get into modelling school when I was 17.

'But I was told by the director that because I had stopped growing - and the only way I would ever be the right height was if I grew leg extensions.

'So that's exactly what I decided to do.

'At first my parents were really against it. My mum is only 5.2ft (158cm) and my dad 5.5ft (168cm) so we are a family of shorties.

'But I had read about something called the Ilizarov apparatus which lengthens bones and that the Soviet high jump champion Valery Brumel had had this done in 1968.

'So I decided to work and save up money to have the operation done.

WHAT IS THE ILLIZAROV APPARATUS METHOD OF LEG LENGTHENING? The Illizarov apparatus method describes a procedure used to lengthen or reshape limb bones. It is named after the orthopedic surgeon Gavriil Abramovich Ilizarov from the Soviet Union, who pioneered the technique. As part of the procedure, the bone is surgically fractured. As the patients recovers, the fractured bone beings to grow together. A cage is attached, which has a screw which is turned four times daily, stretching the leg by a milimeter a day. The procedure carries complications including severe pain, swelling, joints contracting and muscle transfixion, where the muscles are divided out from the bone. Advertisement

'Seeing that I was so determined, my parents gave in and agreed to support me.'

Turning down a place at university, Ms Transer, who is now 30, went to work as an assistant for her engineer father until she saved up the £6,000 needed.

The surgery involved surgically fracturing her legs and fitting a metal cage known as a ring apparatus to each leg.

As she recovered, the fractured bone began to grow together.

But while it was growing, Ms Transer had to turn a screw on each cage four times a day, moving the healing fracture apart by approximately one milimeter a day.

Over time, this meant her leg stretched by 6cm (2.4 inches).

She said: 'The first operation went really well and in nine months I grew by 6cm.

'I am now planning two more operations in the next couple of years and by 2018 I will be 6ft.

Ms Transer plans to have another two surgeries, aiming to be 6ft tall (183 cm) by 2018. She said: 'I'll probably be told I'm too old to be a model by then, but I'll dye my hair blonde and at least I will look and feel like one'

'I'll probably be told I'm too old to be a model by then, but I'll dye my hair blonde and at least I will look and feel like one.'

The procedure, known as the Ilizarov apparatus method, carries complications including severe pain, swelling, joints contracting and muscle transfixion, where the muscles are divided out from the bone.

I'll probably be told I'm too old to be a model by then, but I'll dye my hair blonde and at least I will look and feel like one. Leg surgery patient Alexandra Transer

Ms Transer's story follows that of 21-year-old Xu Juan, from China, whose story was reported by MailOnline in March 2014.

Ms Juan underwent the same type of surgery as Ms Transer, in order to extend one of her legs - which was stunted.

She had suffered a bone infection when she was a child and due to poor medical facilities in her hometown, her thigh bone was eroded by bacteria.

This left her left leg nine inches (23cm) shorter than her right and meant she had to walk with the aid of crutches for most of her life.

Ms Xu had four operations in total between October 2012 and October 2013.

Her left leg was extended by a huge nine inches (23cm) and her left knee joint and left hip joint were replaced.