Post amputation of a limb, the human brain may create a neuromatrix. This neuromatrix in the brain can cause the person who lost their limb to experience ‘phantom limbs.’ Like the movie franchised Matrix films, the brain is only perceiving the ‘phantom limb’ and/or any pain and sensations they believe to be coming from where their lost limb was.
This phenomena is still not completely understood. Nonetheless, it is real and is evidenced in hundreds of thousands of amputees.