27-year-old Georgia man Dynzell Sigers is documenting his path to recovery after getting leg-lengthening surgery, which he said he got after his crush told him he was too short.
In an interview with NeedtoKnow, Sigers revealed that he spent $81,000 on surgery that increased his height from 5 foot 5 inches to 6 feet. “I was always a very shy and reserved child and was always afraid to be myself for fear of being judged or not accepted,” he said. "And in my teens, I was once rejected by a girl I had a huge crush on and although she found me attractive, her reasoning was that I was too short and too young for her."
He said he "clung" to the rejection and was always considering his height before approaching women, which he said ultimately made dating harder for him. “Another big thing that stood out to me was that as much as I loved playing sports and was very good at it, I refused to join any of my school’s teams because of my short stature," he added. Throughout the years, he sought out various procedures in an effort to increase his height. When he found out about limb-lengthening surgery, he booked an appointment "right away."
"I had no particular inspiration, but I knew that I wanted to recreate my body and my mind," he said. "They surgically cut the bone and inserted the internal rod between the two halves, which connects to an external fixator via pins that protrude from the legs.” The entire process took six separate surgeries, starting in December last year. In the first surgery, they surgically cut his bones and inserted an internal rod that "connects to an external fixator via pins that protrude from the legs."
In the 90 days following the procedure, he went through a lengthening process wherein a key on the external fixator is turned to tighten the rod. When the process is completed and the bone has reached its full height, which could take up to a year, the fixator will be removed. He currently has two further surgeries planned. "My recovery process has been very smooth," he said, although he did have to "relearn how to walk twice."
At the moment he's able to work out every day, with only a few specific restrictions on what he can't do exercise-wise. “I feel like a new man… like I could get a second chance at life," he said. Sigers has been documenting his recovery process and showing the before and after of his height on his TikTok account, @MrBrokenBones.
