The Liberal candidate for Calgary Confederation was profiled in 2011 by a U.K. outlet after he had a controversial cosmetic surgery where he had his leg bones broken by doctors so he could be four inches taller.
Thomas Keeper, the Liberal candidate for Calgary Confederation explained the reasoning behind the decision to undergo the operation in an interview with the Daily Mail.
Keeper, a real estate agent by trade, was born with a height of 5’6” before undergoing cosmetic leg-lengthening surgery in order to increase his height to 5’10” in 2010.
“It has taken away that insecurity. I don’t worry about my height now,” Keeper told the outlet.
Keeper explained he felt that being short was a disadvantage in life that would make society treat him differently, citing male examples like “Tom Cruise and Nicolas Sarkozy.”
After his surgery, he met his current wife on an online dating site. He explained that without his surgery she would have been taller than him had he not undergone the surgery.
According to the Daily Mail, Keeper told the outlet that his wife would not have been interested in him if he had his former height.
“When I told my wife about the operation she said she would never have been interested in a guy shorter than her,” said Keeper.
The surgery has courted controversy, despite it becoming increasingly popular among men who want to increase their height. A 2020 Strategies in Trauma and Limb Reconstruction Journal article explores the ethics of leg-lengthening surgery in the treatment of body dysphoria.
The process starts with a surgery where the doctor saws both femurs and inserts special devices which over time pull the bones apart to encourage gradual healing, thereby lengthening the size of the bone. Each femur is slowly pulled apart at a controlled rate, allowing new bone, blood vessels, and soft tissues to grow in the gap. The entire healing process can take months.
The procedure carries significant risks, including permanent nerve damage, permanent mobility issues, muscle damage and arthritis.
Keeper will be running in a riding that has been held by Conservatives since its debut election in 2015. Jeremy Nixon, a former UCP MLA, will take the nomination from retiring Conservative incumbent Len Webber, who announced his intention to leave politics only one day before the election was called.