Man Hacks Off His Own Infected Leg With A Saw And A Back Scratcher Because He Could Not Afford Hospital Bills

A man hacked off his own leg using only a metal saw, a small fruit knife and a back scratcher wrapped with a towel because he couldn't afford hospital bills.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Although the amputation stopped the pain in his right leg, the infection worsened in his left leg, and he began to experience the excruciating pain once again.

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.