Zheng Yanliang, a farmer in Baoding, Hebei Province, holds the hacksaw, fruit knife and backscratcher he used during the amputation of his right leg on April 14 last year after it began to fester due to an arterial embolism. Photo: Yanzhao Evening News

A newspaper in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province is calling for donations for a man in Baoding, Hebei Province who was forced to amputate his own gangrene-infected leg with a hacksaw in the absence of proper and affordable medical treatment.

"Apart from my legs, all the other parts of my body are well," said Zheng Yanliang, who hopes to soon be able to afford prosthetic limbs so he can be less of a burden on his family.

Though Zheng's self-amputation has stopped the spread of gangrene in his right leg, his left has now become infected. He has already lost his foot, and the rot now threatens his entire left leg.

The local reporter who covered the story has opened a phone line for donations from readers.

Zheng knew there was something wrong when a sudden pain shot through his leg on January 28 last year.

Unable to stand, the 47-year-old farmer from Qingyuan county's Dongzang village was later diagnosed with a massive embolism in his leg - an arterial blockage that is highly curable if caught early.

Zheng spent all his savings on medical treatment at Beijing and Hebei hospitals to no avail. He returned home with a fistful of painkillers, which did very little to numb the agony so intense he would often lose consciousness.

After three months of remaining untreated, gangrene began to set in. As the festering spread up his thigh and no money left for medical attention, Zheng had to make a quick and bone-chilling decision.

On April 14, 2012, as his wife slept in the next room, Zheng wrapped a backscratcher in a towel, placed it in his mouth and cut off his own leg using a hacksaw and a fruit knife.

After 20 minutes, Zheng's wife rushed in to discover a disturbing scene; Zheng not only had broken the hacksaw blade in half during the amputation, but he had also lost four teeth during the process from biting down in agony.   

Though Zheng had stopped the spread of gangrene in his right leg, his left has become infected. He has already lost his foot, and the rot now threatens his 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.

If you wish to make a donation to Zheng and his family, please contact the reporter of this article, Wang Yang with the Yanzhao Evening News in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, at (86) 13630853382.

Yanzhao Evening News