My dangerous desires: Chloe Jennings-White in her wheelchair at home (Picture: Barcroft)

Using a wheelchair is not something able-bodied people normally dream of doing – unless they’re Chloe Jennings-White.

The 58-year-old longs to be a paraplegic – paralysed from the waist down – and even wants a surgeon to sever her spine to stop her legs working.

She has been diagnosed with Body Integrity Identity Disorder – a rare psychological condition that makes sufferers want to be disabled.

As a child, she would climb trees and play risky sports in a deliberate attempt to hurt herself.


She has also suffered skiing and car crash injuries, she thinks ‘sub-consciously’, in a bid to make her dream come true. Even she could not understand why she wanted to be disabled until the diagnosis was made five years ago.



‘I thought I was a freak,’ she said.

Now doctors have told Ms Jennings-White to use a wheelchair and leg braces to control her urges to damage her spine.

‘Being able to use a wheelchair is a massive relief, and the closest I will probably come to being paraplegic,’ she said.

Chloe hoped a skiing accident would leave her disabled (Picture: Barcroft)

Her obsession began when she was four. She visited her aunt, Olive, who was using leg braces after a bike accident and admits: ‘I wanted them, too.’

The desire to be disabled has exposed London-born Ms Jennings-White to intolerance, insults and online threats.

Most shockingly of all, Ms Jennings-White, of Salt Lake City, Utah, admits she has even sought a surgeon who is willing to sever her sciatic nerve to paralyse her.

But, at £16,000, the unnecessary operation was way beyond her means.

‘I might never be able to afford it, but I know, truly and deeply, I won’t regret it if I ever can,’ she said.

‘Something in my brain tells me my legs are not supposed to work. Having any sensation in them feels wrong.’