Surgery after Cork woman's bid to cut off finger

A young woman who tried to chop off one of her fingers with an axe in a desperate bid to end chronic pain is due to undergo potentially life-changing surgery tomorrow.

Megan Cullen, 22, from Bantry in Co Cork, hopes the procedure to remove a metal rod from her injured finger will be the first step on her journey to a life without excruciating pain.

She has been told the operation has a 50:50 chance of success because she may have RSD — reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome — a rare and complex chronic pain condition in which high levels of nerve impulses are sent to an injured site.