Kelly Ronahan is a young Canadian athletic woman and ballet dancer whose future was truncated by a mysterious illness. A native of Kelowna, in the south of Canada, Kelly was a ballet dancer and teacher until a strange ailment left her amputated.
Her story is quite bizarre as it tells of a strange illness that doctors found difficult to diagnose but was rendering her immobile. She had to resort to prosthetic appendages to save her life. With her story going viral and her receiving huge support from internet users, Ronahan also faced a backlash, with many netizens accusing her of faking her symptoms.
What is Kelly Ronahan’s Story?
Kelly Ronahan’s story is that of a promising ballet dancer whose hopes, dreams, and life aspirations have been cut short thanks to the strange life-threatening disease she has been battling with. And just like many horror stories on the internet, Kelly’s tale went viral.
The Canadian lady became famous in 2014 as she transitioned from being a very healthy young woman to becoming one whose living is dependent on a leg amputation. She was first diagnosed with an uncommon blood disease.
Her doctor explained that her hemoglobin was low and iron was depleted. As a result, she needed weekly blood transfusions to sustain her life. However, doctors could not decipher why Kelley’s hemoglobin level dropped straight down at high speed every week.
In an interview with Global News in March 2016, she lamented how she had received over 70 blood transfusions within two years. According to her, the 70 blood transfusions amounted to 95 liters of blood which meant that she got three bags of blood every two weeks. This implies that she needed six blood donors every month to stay alive.
She also stated that if there were no blood transfusions to her, the resultant effect would be major organ failure. Consequently, she would be dead in four to six weeks. However, what constantly baffled all that followed her story was that despite the continuous blood transfusions, Kelly Ronahan’s health did not get any better. Rather, she grew weaker and leaner – which threw medical experts deeper into confusion.
As her story went viral, the former ballet dancer received huge emotional support and love from internet users. In a bid to get more blood donations, Kelly volunteered for a blood donation organization, and as days turn to weeks and months, Kelly’s health continued to deteriorate.
Later in July 2016, she was admitted to the hospital for seizures, but her doctors discharged her after they discovered that she was pretending.
Kelly Ronahan was Later Criticized by the Media
Following her mysterious illness, Kelly Ronahan was in and out of the hospital. In the first quarter of 2017, Kelly disclosed to her fans that her port was infected and swollen, which led to sepsis. As such, her immune system’s reaction to infection was dangerous.
In the same vein, she disclosed that she was becoming obsessed with exercise while also claiming to suffer from an eating disorder. Kelly also claimed to have inflicted injuries on herself before the strange illness started; however, judging from the images she uploaded, the scars did not seem to be three years old.
Unfortunately, her ports were infected the second time, and so she was kept under a doctor’s supervision for three weeks, during which time the seizures – along with rashes – resurfaced.
Later in the year, Kelly Ronahan visited the hospital, and after a blood test, the results showed that her hemoglobin was normal, which made people suggest she had been pretending all along. In defense, Kelly accused the medical experts of trying to make her look bad before the public.
She attributed her health condition to MS (multiple sclerosis) and insisted that she had uterine fibroids – even though there was no medical evidence to support her claim. According to her self-diagnosis, she needed a hysterectomy surgery to get rid of the fibroids.
Notwithstanding, the doctors removed her port in April 2018, as she won’t need transfusion anymore. Meanwhile, her story began to divide the opinions of netizens, with most believing she was pretending to be sick with a strange disease. Consequently, her followers turned their backs on her, and the media, which was once her support system, became her greatest opposition.
What Happened to Kelly Ronahan’s Leg?
Kelly Ronahan’s leg was amputated after her legs began to rot for no reason. Barely a month after the port was removed, Kelly returned to the hospital with complaints of swollen feet. She also reported that blisters appeared on her legs too.
As the discomfort increased, she impulsively picked the blisters, which made them grow even bigger, but despite the excruciating pains she was feeling, the doctors blatantly refused to prescribe painkillers as they could not figure out the cause of the swelling.
With time, her condition grew worse, and the blisters developed into bigger wounds. Then the blisters spread to her hands, and seizures followed. The sad part of the situation was that it became a medical mystery.
Coupled with her devastating health condition, the opposition and hate she received from the internet community also increased, which almost affected her mental health. But as it was her culture to keep her fans updated, she kept on posting pictures of her day-by-day situation.
And whether she was pretending or not, one could hardly tell by the pictures she posted online, which showed that her condition was getting worse. The pictures had become an eyesore, and she later revealed that she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.
Kelly Ronahan’s Leg was Amputated
While there was a temporal respite as a result of the skin grafting procedure she underwent in 2019, it wasn’t the end of Kelly Ronahan’s turmoil as she landed at the hospital again. This time, she was said to have aggravated her condition because she went back to picking her wounds.
She was hospitalized for three days, but medical experts could not diagnose her condition. Soon, Kelly Ronahan couldn’t feel her legs and ankles anymore, and worst still, the wound refused to heal. Sadly, she was even accused of injecting excreta into her legs to seek attention from her followers.
And so, in a bid to save her life, the doctors advised that she underwent amputation as one of her toes had already fallen off at that point. In May 2021, Kelly Ronahan’s two legs were cut off.
Where is Kelly Ronahan Now?
Kelly Ronahan is still alive, however, unlike when she was sick, she has refused to share her exact location with her fans. Since the amputation, the former ballet dancer has been making the most of life and taking her time to recover.
Since her last post in April 2021, Kelly Ronahan has not been publicly seen or heard of. It would seem that she is probably taking a break from social media.
