A man who voluntarily had his legs amputated due to a rare genetic condition has said he hopes to learn to jog again.

Tom Staniford has MDP syndrome, a rare genetic condition, which he said meant he had no fat on the soles of his feet.

His right leg was amputated earlier in the year and his left leg was removed in October to ease the “tremendous amount of pain” the deteriorating bones in his feet had caused.

Mr Staniford, who completed a charity bike ride in Devon before the first operation, said the procedures had gone better than expected and his goals were to learn to stand, walk, cycle and jog with his prosthetic legs.

Mr Staniford said the syndrome meant he had “no subcutaneous fat on the soles of my feet”.

“I also have extensive contractions of ligaments, tendons and connective tissue,” he said.

“Over time this was crippling my feet and warping my bones and fusing them together.”

He said it had been “extremely likely” he would suffer a major infection which would have led to his legs being removed to save his life.

“My argument to the doctors was… why not do the amputations now while I’m still younger, healthier, fitter and I will heal faster and take better to the prosthetics,” he said.

“It was a simple decision for me to cut them off now and hopefully have the tremendous opportunity to potentially improve my quality of life with the prosthetics.”

Mr Staniford explained it had taken between two and three months to recover from the amputation of his right leg.

He said he was then measured for a prosthetic limb that would allow him to carry out the activities he wanted to do, such as walking and cycling.