Australian goes to Russia to have legs broken - and enjoys it.

"I know this sounds quite weird and a lot of people probably won't understand it, but I was so excited. It was a day that I had been waiting for for such a long time, I relished that four hours.

"I was laying there and I recall quite vividly thinking this is just great, I'm finally here, I'm getting this done and it's going to change my life forever."

Over the next nine months Ban's legs were stretched every day as the broken bones healed, eventually boosting her to a height of 1,62 metres (5 feet 4 inches).

Side-effects and complications could include disfigurement, muscle, joint and nerve damage, infection, arthritis and chronic pain, Metcalfe said.

Following the operation, Ban said her height insecurity "just seemed to vanish" and she had a new confidence in her professional credibility.

"But I guess had I not had this operation I probably wouldn't be insecure about my height at this age because I would just accept who I am," she conceded.

SHOOT: Strange story. This last comment (immediately above) says it all, doesn't it, given the risks.

clipped from www.iol.co.za For as long as she could remember the 31-year-old lawyer and politician had felt deeply insecure about her height, but had resigned herself to life at 1,54 metres (just over five feet). "If you're not happy with the other parts of your body you can change them through fairly routine cosmetic surgery but this is something that couldn't be fixed," Ban told AFP. "For a long time I thought nothing could be done." It was a chance conversation with friends as a 23-year-old that first alerted Ban to the concept of limb lengthening - a cosmetic procedure popular in China, Italy and the United States but little-known in Australia. "My ears just pricked up and I thought 'wow, this is incredible'," Ban said. Doctors fed 14 wires through the flesh, soft tissue, muscle and bone of both legs to suspend them in circular stretching frames, and then broke them in two places. "I had an epidural so I was awake for the whole thing, it was a four-hour operation," Ban said.