A RETIRED builder has told how he was startled awake by his wife's scream at the sight of his mangled toe..
David Lindsay, 64, was horrified to discover his pet puppy Harley had chewed his big toe 'to the bone' as he lay asleep on a sofa at home.
The seven-month-old bulldog had left a bloody stump on David's right foot, with his toenail hanging off. The bone is the builder's toe had also been fractured.
The even stranger thing was that David didn't even feel the grisly ordeal.
The horror incident turned out to be a potential life-saver as medics later discovered he had lost the feeling in his feet due to two blocked arteries in his legs.
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David, a father to five daughters and grandfather to 11 children, has no plans on getting rid of the naughty pup after it inadvertently saved his life.
The builder from Cambridge, Cambs, who suffers from diabetes, said: "I was asleep on the couch when my wife walked in and shouted, 'Dave, the puppy's chewing your toe!' "My puppy had near enough chewed my big toe off! It chewed down to the bone and cracked it.
"But because of all this, I discovered that my foot is completely numb, I can't feel anything."
His wife wrapped up his toe and rushed him to Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambs, where he's been for nine days.
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Dave has been put on intravenous antibiotics to stop the infection, caused by the dog bite, from spreading to his bone.
But only because of the severe mauling his toe endured, Dave discovered he couldn't feel his foot.
During CT scans for the fractured toe, the doctors discovered not one, but two blocked arteries.
The blockages could put his whole leg in danger of needing amputation if the blood supply wasn't returned.
What could cause numbness in feet?
Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a common condition where a build-up of fatty deposits in the arteries restricts blood supply to leg muscles.
You might have no symptoms, but PAD can often cause numbness or weakness in the legs.
According to the NHS, other symptoms of PAD can include:
- a painful ache in your legs which disappears after rest
- hair loss on your legs and feet
- brittle, slow-growing toenails
- open sores on your feet and legs, which do not heal
- changing skin colour on your legs, such as turning paler than usual or blue – this may be harder to see on brown and black skin
- shiny skin
- in men, erectile dysfunction
- the muscles in your legs shrinking
You should see a GP if you experience recurring leg pain when exercising.
Some causes of PAD include smoking, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol.
Thanks to the mixed-colour pup, Dave is now being assessed for stents which would open up the arteries and allow the blood flow to return to his leg.
He said he has no plans to get rid of the life-saving bulldog, having lost his two large Neapolitan Mastiff dogs last year.
Dave, who hadn't owned a bulldog before now, said: "You've got to laugh about it. He's done me a favour by chewing my toe.
"So I'm waiting to find out if they can put stents in. I'll be keeping the dog.
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"I'll try to keep my toe too, but if not I told the doctor to cut it off and I can take it home for him!"
David hopes to go home to his wife and cheeky bulldog by the end of the week.
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