Poverty-stricken woman faces having her grossly swollen leg AMPUTATED as doctors say she can afford no other treatment

A poverty-stricken woman faces having her grossly swollen leg amputated because doctors say any other treatment is too expensive for her to afford
Liu Huayan from Ganzhou, China, did not seek medical help after bruising her leg while chopping firewood earlier this year because she could not afford to see a doctor.
Her leg is now grotesquely disfigured, with swelling drooping down the sides of her foot, and medics say the only remedy her finances can meet is the removal of the afflicted limb.

Facing amputation: Liu Huayan, suffering from a swollen leg, sits in a hospital in Ganzhou, China, yesterday

Mrs Liu's right leg started ballooning five years after she gave birth to a child. It began ulcerating this May when she suffered bruising after an accident while chopping firewood.
She did not go to the doctor immediately because, although China is a nominally Communist state, it has no equivalent socialised healthcare provision like the British National Health Service.
While healthcare was collectivised in the China after the revolution, successive reforms robbed the already threadbare system of much needed funds, leaving citizens responsible for financing their own treatment.

No safety net: Mrs Liu can afford no treatment other than the removal of the afflicted limb

Now public healthcare in China exists in name only, with those who are ill forced to pay for practically unregulated private doctors who often disregard patients rights.
Mrs Liu's family is already heavily in debt after spending huge chunks of their meagre income on medication to treat her husband's tuberculosis.
Doctors have now recommended amputation as other treatments are too costly for her family to afford.