Abstract

This article examines the phenomenological crisis of Colleen Haggerty as captured in her memoir A Leg to Stand On: An Amputee’s Walk into Motherhood (2014). Using a theory-driven textual analysis, the article examines the conceptual metaphors articulated by Haggerty to comprehend the phenomenology of being a road traffic accident (RTA) victim and a disabled mother. The article draws on and extends Fiona Kumari Campbell’s and E. J. R. David’s notion of internalized ableism in order to trace the physical and psychological well-being issues of the accident victim who encounters an amputation. In addition, the article adopts and appropriates Catherine Malabo’s theory of destructive plasticity and Havi Carel’s theory of bodily doubt to unveil the uncanny experientialities of RTA victims. Overall, it examines how the memoir serves as an apt medium to cognize Haggerty’s anxiety, phobia, apprehension, and the gradual circumvention of her body’s limitations and enjoyment of all the shades of womanhood.