A diabetic former soldier used pliers to cut off his own toes after
his operation was cancelled at the last minute.
Paul Dibbins, 57,
had been due to have his leg removed below the knee after suffering frost bite
on his feet while repairing a car in wintry conditions.
But, when the
surgery was called off by the NHS, the fed up father-of-three decided to treat
the condition himself.
Mr Dibbins initially
spent months trying to heal his toes, but was told six months later that he had
developed gangrene and they would have to be removed.
But, when he had to
wait six weeks for an operation, Mr Dubbins decided to cut off the toes
himself.
The former army
Lance Corporal – who did not take any painkillers – used his first aid
knowledge to scrape off the dead flesh around the two toes on his right foot.
Sitting in his
living room, he then cut through the tendon – which took around an hour – and
removed the toes.
He claims he even
won praise for his handy work by a surgeon – who said he was ‘mad’ but lauded
his work as ‘textbook’.
Mr Dibbins, from
Buckfastleigh, Devon. said: ‘I did it because it’s what had to be done, my
doctor told me my toes were going to kill me.
‘I’ve had one
surgeon say to me it was more luck than judgment but then I had another surgeon
saying I was mad but it was textbook.’
Mr Dibbins suffered
frostbite after spending three hours fixing a blown head gasket on his son’s
car during ‘cutting winds’ in the driveway of his hilltop home in March 2015.
His feet turned
‘soot black’ and he was rushed into Torbay Hospital where doctors told him they
would need to amputate his right leg from the knee down.
But after being
wheeled to theatre doctors, pulled the plug at the last minute.
Mr Dibbins then
discharged himself from hospital, believing doctors would call him in a few
days to rearrange an appointment.
But he claims he
never received the phone call – and was forced to take action.
Mr Dibbins then
spent nine months treating his own wounds twice a day, using a Swiss army
knife, sterile scissors and homemade dressing.
Incredibly, surgeons
have now praised his work, lauding the 57-year-old for carrying out a
‘beautiful job’ and said the wounds have healed
He said: ‘Taking
care of myself I could see myself getting better. I could see the more work I
did, the better it healed.
‘I took six
painkillers in the first week and then none for nine months. I didn’t want to
die and didn’t want my leg cut off.’
Mr Dibbins claims he
saw doctors every six weeks after and was told he could carry on treating his
frostbite until ‘things turned nasty’.
Then, in November 2015,
his right foot became infected with gas gangrene – but he claims he was forced
to wait weeks for an appointment.
So the determined
former army Lance Corporal used scissors to crunch through the gristle.
The former army
Lance Corporal spent nine months treating his own wounds with dressing twice a
day, a treatment which cured the frostbite. But he soon developed gangrene and
faced the stark reality of losing his foot
His wife Elaine, 57,
to whom he has been married for 40 years, said: ‘There have been ups and downs
and it’s been quite a journey.
‘I could not be in
the room while he did it but I knew that he had to do it to save his foot, his
leg and life at the end of the day.
‘I could see where
he was coming from although it was traumatic and emotional.
‘We have been
together since we were 16 years ago and he has always been a survivor.’
Daily mail UK
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