There are only 90 shopping days until Christmas, so presumably you’ve started your list. If you have people in your life who are difficult to buy for, may we recommend the gift that keeps on giving and is bound to be a conversation piece in any home: a floor lamp made from an amputated leg. Dutchman Leo Bonten lost his right leg to a serious infection. Before it was surgically removed, the patient “had a flash of inspiration” and requested that the surgeons allow him to keep the amputated limb–so he could transform it into a decorative lamp. Although the hospital initially refused, Bonten insisted, arguing that “My leg is my property. People keep kidney stones in a jar on the mantelpieces. Ashes of dead people are included in tattoos. I’m going to make a lamp of my leg.” We agree that the logic is flawless. Pathologists preserved the limb in formaldehyde, and designer Willem Schaperkotte made it into the lamp.
However, it seems Bonten is already tired of reading by the light of his leg, as he attempted to sell it on ebay for $120,000. Bonten says he wants to use the proceeds to buy a prosthetic limb, and help other amputees. “I would also like to set up a foundation that helps amputees come to terms with the fact that their life doesn’t stop after a limb is removed.” But the online auction site refused the sale because for some reason they are rather finicky about selling human body parts. So if you’re looking for a leg lamp for that special someone (and, really, who doesn’t want one?), you will have to be content with this one from A Christmas Story.
