Community Corner

Joey Pleban Lost His Foot With Amazing Charm, Humor — And Pics

Amputee chronicles, "The Last Adventures of Joe's Left Foot."

Joey Pleban, 23, of Fredericksburg, is recovering at home after a surgery to remove his left foot. 

But his journey to the operating room is blowing up the internet after Pleban's sister uploaded photos chronicling before and after pics in a Reddit gallery, "The Last Adventures of Joe's Left Foot."

There are pics of Pleban getting a "please cut here" tattoo, along with shots of various dangerous items aiming at the leg, including a few saws and a paint gun. Post surgery, there's a pic of Pleban and friends mockingly horrified at the lost limb.

The foot was amputated because of crippling joint pain associated with pigmented villonodular synovitis, or PVNS. The condition had eliminated cartilage in the joint and Pleban was walking bone-on-bone for the past few years, according to his Reddit page.

A fundraising campaign is underway to help pay for a custom prosthetic leg cover. More than $1,500 has been raised so far.

Pleban is also posting on Reddit about his experience, under the user name rightfooted. 

"Right before the surgery, I was definitely freaking out a bit," Pleban wrote on Reddit. "It was such a 'no turning back' decision. But as soon as I woke up from the surgery and looked down, I knew I had done the right thing."

This year's Halloween costume? Pleban tells Reddit readers he'll be going as a surfer and his girlfriend will be a shark.


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