A woman is looking for a designer to turn the skin from her amputated leg into a handbag.
The 55-year-old from Manchester has peripheral arterial disease and will soon need to have her lower left leg surgically removed.
The woman, known only as Joan, had the 'lightbulb moment' after learning about the human tissue waste scandal.
Joan is now trying to find a designer and manufacturer to create her dream 'legbag'.
Posting her request on Sewport, an online marketplace for clothing manufacturing services, Joan admitted it was a bit 'odd and gross'.
She said her family 'aren't happy' either.
Designers at Sewport have mocked up potential designs, and are looking to hook Joan up with designers willing to work with human skin.
Joan, posting her request on the website, said: "It's looking very likely that I'm going to have my lower left leg amputated soon (I have peripheral arterial disease) and I was reading about the human waste scandal where they just dumped body parts in a dump to rot and I don't want that ti happen to me.
"I was chatting to a friend about leather and how it's essentially just treated animal skin and I had a lightbulb moment - can I use my amputated leg to create something beautiful and useful?"
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Joan has learned from her own research that the maker will need to know how to preserve and treat human skin so it can be made into a bag.
Joan has set aside £3000 for her dream bag, and hopes it is enough.
She has even provided a sketch of the kind of skin bag she wants to create.
Experts at Sewport.com are keen to find Joan a suitable designer to fulfill her needs.
A statement on the Sewport website said: ‘It came to light that she got in touch with us after seeing the request from the lady who wanted the dress made from her Mother’s hair, and was inspired to do something similar.
‘Before you say “ew gross!”, we’ve spoken with the woman and her reasoning behind it is actually understandable and very personal.
’Joan just can’t stand the idea of medical waste – of human body parts being unceremoniously disposed of. She’s going to do everything in her power to stop that from happening to her leg.'
