According to Shanghaiist.com, Zheng Yanliang, 47, from Boading city, China, began to experience bouts of pain in his abdomen that traveled to both of his legs. He was diagnosed with massive arterial thrombosis in both legs.
As the pain worsened, he decided to take the gruesome step of removing the infected limb himself to avoid the expensive hospital bill.
Excruciating: Mr Yanliang took the desperate step of removing his own infected right leg. He had been diagnosed with massive thrombosis and was in severe pain
Angiograms taken before the home amputation showed that all of the arteries in his right leg were completely gone.
Doctors told the Mr Yanliang, known in his town as being a 'tough guy', the disease was very rarely seen, and he wasn't likely to live more than a month.
For three months, Mr Yanliang was tormented by pain to the point of fuzzy consciousness, screaming so loud that his neighbors could not sleep.
He said. 'It was very painful and they gave me medication but it didn't help.'
The farmer went to several hospitals in Beijing and Hebei but every time he was simply sent home with more medication to his farm in Qingyuan county's Dongzang village.
He said: 'Sometimes the pain was so intense I would pass out, then after three months when it was really bad, they told me that an infection had set in, that I had gangrene, and that I might lose the limb.
'Ideally I needed it to be operated on, but I could not afford it. They just gave me medication. They sent me home to die.'
One night, after his wife had gone to bed, Mr Yanliang found a fruit knife, a metal saw and a towel-wrapped back scratcher and began amputating his own leg.
Zheng Yanliang used the saw and the knife to cut away at the flesh while biting down on a back scratcher to help him withstand the pain
As the pain in Zheng's leg increased, he grabbed the saw and fruit knife and performed the amputation himself
Zheng Yanliang points to the wrapped up remains of his leg that he disposed of with the rest of his rubbish
He said: 'I had a wooden back scratcher, I wrapped a towel around it, and bit on it so I did not scream and wake my wife, then I used the knife to slice the skin and pull it back so I could see the bone. Then I used the saw to slice through the bone after putting a belt around the leg to stop the blood flow.
'I did not want to distress my wife, but I had to wake her when the hacksaw blade broke.'
More than 20 minutes later, his wife awoke and found him with his right leg amputated.
Her husband’s right leg had been sawed off about 15 centimeters from the hip, and the metal saw used for the amputation had snapped into two from the excessive force, and on the table were 4 molars that had been bitten off.
Fortunately, because of the thrombosis, there wasn’t much blood during the amputation.
Painful: Mr Yanliag's leg was severed about 15centimetres from his hip
Wheelchair-bound: Farmer Mr Yanliang is uable to work since the loss of his limb. He said medication he was given did not help
Farm: Up until his illness, Mr Yanliang ran the family farm
The operation saved his life, but now the open wound that still shows a stump of bone has led to a fresh infection, this time in his left leg.
Doctors say he will not be able to save his remaining foot - and he needs an operation if he is not to lose the entire left leg.
As Zheng's condition worsens, Zheng's wife, who suffers from diabetes and heart disease, is forced to tend to the farm on her own.
The family's only financial support comes from their 17-year-old daughter, who dropped out of school to take a job.
Mr Yanliang is now asking his community to help pay for an artificial limb, so that he can carry on with his life and take care of his family.
The local reporter who covered the story has opened a phone line for donations from readers.
Treatment: Zheng Yanliang (right) now faces an uncertain future and needs to raise more money for another operation
Struggle: Mr Yanliang's wife, who has her own health problems, is tending to their farm. The family's only financial support comes from their 17-year-old daughter who dropped out of school to help her parents
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