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Man furious after spotting his own amputated leg on cigarette packs, despite losing limb in assault

Man says he lost limb following an assault with injury 'nothing to do with smoking' 

Emma Snaith
Thursday 18 July 2019 13:36 BST
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An Albanian man claims an image of his amputated leg is being used on EU cigarette packets without his consent
An Albanian man claims an image of his amputated leg is being used on EU cigarette packets without his consent

A 60-year-old man who had his leg amputated following an assault was shocked to discover an image of his limb being used on cigarette packaging without his consent.

The picture is reportedly displayed on EU cigarette packets, accompanied with the message "smoking clogs your arteries".

The Albanian man, who has not been named, made the discovery after his son bought a packet of rolling tobacco in Luxembourg last year, radio network France Bleu reported.

The son recognised the scars and burns on the image and showed it to his father who confirmed it was a photo of his leg.

However, the man says he lost his leg as the result of an assault in Albania in 1997 before he moved to France.

His lawyer, Antoine Fittante, told France Bleu that the amputation had “nothing to do with smoking”.

The man believes the photo was taken at a hospital in the city of Metz in France when he visited to find out whether he could be equipped with a prosthetic leg.

"It's rather incredible that a person finds themselves without their agreement on cigarette packets throughout the European Union," Mr Fittante told the BBC.

"My client feels betrayed, wounded in his dignity, by seeing his disability [displayed] on cigarette packets in tobacconists; one must admit that's not very pleasant."

Mr Fittante is contacting the European Commission to find out what happened as it is responsible for the distribution of the images on cigarette packets. He has also written to the hospital to find out how the photos ended up being used.

In 2017, a woman from Essex was shocked after finding a cigarette packet featuring a picture which she believed was of her late father in hospital.

However, the EU Commission and Basildon University Hospital, where her father was on life support in intensive care, denied the claim.

In 2012, representatives for former Chelsea captain John Terry sought legal advice after an image resembling him was found on packets of cigarettes in India.

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