Self-Induced Infection Leading to Amputations

Following up on yesterday’s amputation post…

A friend of mine in South Africa was looking to amputate a toe, and instead of chopping it off himself, he chose to induce an infection so serious that it had to be amputated by doctors. After getting an infection intially, he kept the infection getting worse by standing in dirty fish ponds, putting motor oil on it, and more (first photo). After doctors amputated the toe (second photo), the infection remained, and doctors were forced to do a midfoot ampuation (third photo) that’s almost approaching a “hoof” as it heals. The procedure is totally different, but in a way it reminds me of Chinese foot binding.

I know a number of folks who’ve chosen to “induce” amputation by the medical community using infections, and I must strongly emphasize that this is far more dangerous than simply doing the amputation yourself because infections of this severity can easily go systemic and be fatal — far better off faking a woodworking accident, hunting accident, or something of that nature that fits ones lifestyle and then seeking immediate medical attention.

Update: Read the interview!

DIY Mid-Foot Amputation

A friend of mine (who is very experienced in this subject) recently did this DIY foot shortening — and this definitely has to be the limits of what’s possible in a DIY setting. I hope it heals well (it’s two weeks old in this photo)! More pictures are in BME/extreme‘s amputation galleries.

PS. It’s quite an old interview, but you may want to read this interview about voluntary amputation (free link) if you’d like to learn a little more about the “why” end of things, or if you’re a BME/Video member, this video interview about ampuation (as well as a demonstration) is very much worth checking out.

Life Is Only Temporary

Given that the robots are posting this right as I go under for surgery, let’s hope it’s not literally true for me today, haha. Well, if I die at least the robots have a few weeks of updates scheduled. And for the record if something goes wrong I would like my ashes half spread on the farm that I grew up on and half placed in Lake Ontario — not that I expect anything to go wrong!

This tattoo is by Eamonn at Et’s Tattoo Studio in Norwich.