A 14-year-old teenager, Jasmine Ramirez, from Bradenton, Florida, has undergone a nearly 17-hour surgical procedure to amputate her left leg, which had grown to an extraordinary size due to a rare tumor that had been present since early childhood. The operation was performed at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida.
According to family accounts, Jasmine’s condition was first noticeable when she was about two years old, when her left leg began growing at an abnormally rapid rate compared to the rest of her body. Over time, the growth included not only bone and soft tissue but also arteries, veins, and fat, leading to a massive disproportion.
Medical teams previously described the growth as akin to a lymphomatous tumor, but doctors did not assign an established medical name to the condition due to its extreme rarity and complexity. Experts noted that the biological cause remained largely undetermined, and only a very small number of similar cases, if any are recorded in clinical literature.
The decision to proceed with amputation was made after the leg became immensely heavy and immobile, ultimately limiting Jasmine’s ability to walk and function. An infection that was resistant to conventional treatment further complicated her situation and posed a life-threatening risk, prompting the medical team to pursue surgical amputation as a necessary intervention.
Surgery time: approximately 16.5 to 17 hours, one of the longest recorded for a pediatric limb amputation.
Weight of amputated limb: more than 170 pounds (≈77 kg).
Additional procedure: surgeons also removed a significant abdominal tumor mass during the same operation.
Post-surgery body weight: Jasmine’s reported weight after surgery was around 80 pounds (≈36 kg).
The lengthy surgery involved multidisciplinary coordination among orthopedic, vascular, pediatric, and reconstructive surgical teams to manage the extensive tissue and vascular structures involved.
After anesthesia and ventilator support were discontinued, Jasmine reportedly woke up and began engaging with physical support relatively soon, including transferring herself into a wheelchair and participating in early mobility efforts under supervision.
Her family and medical staff have noted steady progress in the initial recovery period. Jasmine is expected to require extended rehabilitation and adaptive care as she adjusts to life post-amputation, including prosthetic evaluation and physical therapy once medically ready.
Extreme cases of limb overgrowth can be associated with conditions such as vascular malformations, lymphatic anomalies, or segmental overgrowth syndromes (e.g., Proteus syndrome, Klippel–Trénaunay syndrome), though Jasmine’s specific presentation has not been classified under a defined diagnosis.
A comparable condition has been documented in other rare overgrowth disorders such as PIK3CA-related overgrowth spectrum (PROS), a group of conditions caused by somatic mutations in the PIK3CA gene that lead to abnormal tissue overgrowth in affected body parts. In one well-reported case by MedBoundTimes, Mandy Sellars, a woman from the United Kingdom, lived for many years with excessive leg growth linked to a PIK3CA mutation, which ultimately required amputation and later regrowth of tissues at the amputation site before targeted medical therapies were used to control overgrowth. Her case has helped clinicians and researchers better understand the biology of extreme overgrowth syndromes and the challenges they present in diagnosis and management.
Surgical amputation is generally considered when growth leads to functional impairment, intractable infection, or life-threatening complications, and when conservative management is no longer effective. Early and ongoing rehabilitation support helps individuals adapt to changes post-amputation and optimize quality of life.
The family has established a GoFundMe campaign and a Facebook page titled “Jasmine’s Journey” to support both her medical care and to raise awareness of her rare health condition and recovery process. As of late December 2025, the fundraiser has received substantial community support to assist with ongoing hospital and rehabilitation costs.
(Rh/TL)