SURVIVOR

Drag Legend Pippi Lovestocking Recovers From Quadruple Amputations

After cardiac surgery, she developed sepsis and lost both legs and hands.

San Francisco drag legend Pippi Lovestocking is getting back on the stage for the first time since she lost both hands and her lower legs to a health crisis. The occasion is a benefit for Parts of Pippi, a documentary that is being made about her life and near-death. “I’m worried I might be rusty,” Lovestocking told the San Francisco Chronicle. In May 2023, the performer ended up in the emergency room, underwent cardiac surgery, and was in a medically induced coma for 16 days. Then she developed sepsis, which led to the quadruple amputations. After four months in the hospital, she’s been undergoing rehab at a care facility and is learning to use her new prosthetic hands, paid for by a GoFundMe. Lovestocking, whose legal name is Scott Coker Free, said she is looking forward to the day she can live on her own. “I don’t have a lot in common with the older people who live here, but they’ve been supportive. Some said they even want to come to the benefit to see me perform,” she told the Chronicle.