When Gabi Shull was diagnosed with cancer, she feared that she would never dance again.
According to PopSugar, the 15-year-old ballerina from Missouri had part of her leg amputated while being treated for osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer that affected her knee.
But Shull received a new type of surgery that reattached her own foot at the knee. The procedure allowed her to continue her ballet career with a prosthetic leg.
According to Woman's Day, the cancer was discovered when Shull was 9: she fell while ice skating and injured her knee. Several weeks later, after pain and swelling, she went to the hospital for an X-ray and doctors discovered the cancer in her knee.
Doctors worked with Shull to treat her cancer with an unconventional surgical procedure: they removed her knee joint, rotated her foot 180 degrees, then rejoined it to her leg, allowing it to function like a knee. The result: when Shull points her foot, her prosthetic is straight, it bends when she flexes her foot.
"It's a unique surgery," Shull told People. "Not for everybody, but it was worth it for me."
Five years after her surgery, Shull now takes ballet, tap, hip-hop, lyrical, contemporary, and jazz dance classes, in addition to dancing competitively and being a national spokesperson for The Truth 365, a cancer awareness organization for kids.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
Hurricane Matthew Could Make Zika Problem Worse In Florida
This Is The Lowest I'll Weigh All Year — & I Couldn't Care Less
Woman Has Two Massive Hairballs Removed From Stomach & Intestines