Runner’s leg amputated after ingrown toenail went septic

A runner’s leg had to be amputated after getting an ingrown toenail while training for a 5km race.

Heather Satchwell, 27, rubbed the big toenail of her right foot on her trainers during her preparation races in 2016.

She went to hospital as she has diabetes, causing loss of sensation in her feet.

Despite this, she had to wait seven months for the nail to be removed.

The former police and council CCTV worker, who previously ran two to three times a week, had her big toe amputated later the same year but by this point the infection had already spread.

She was forced to have her right leg amputated below the knee due to gangrene in June last year before more of her leg was removed in February this year.

Heather, from Newhall, Derbyshire, must now rely on a prosthetic leg and wheelchair to get around.

She is fundraising for a disability-friendly garden space so she can play with daughter Gia, six, outdoors.

She said: ‘I was told as a diabetic you have to be careful with your feet so as soon as it was red I went to hospital.

‘I was given antibiotics but they didn’t work, and because the infection had already spread to the bottom of my leg my toe was amputated.

‘I didn’t want to be in hospital for any length of time because I didn’t want to be away from my daughter, so I went home the same day.

‘But eventually, my surgeon had to tell me if I didn’t get my leg amputated, I wouldn’t be there for Gia at all.’

She says the circumstances surrounding the amputation made things worse, as she had to move house five days before surgery as the previous rental wasn’t wheelchair friendly.

But even when she found a new bungalow, she was housebound for seven months with her bathroom so unsuitable due to problems with the shower she was told to consider using swimming pool facilities to wash in.

Heather also had her Personal Independence Payments (PIP) cancelled and was forced to go to court to reclaim £2,000 which she was owed by the DWP.

Heather said: ‘Losing my leg was actually the least painful part of what happened, everything afterwards was worse.’

In June this year, Heather became determined to make the garden of her home more accessible to allow her to spend more time outside with Gia, so appealed for help online.
But a man who approached her and offered to fix the garden for free left it dug up and in a terrible state, with the slabs ruined before not returning as anticipated.

Heather was later visited by gardener Hannah Goldsmith, who was heartbroken to hear what had happened and launched a GoFundMe appeal to help transform her garden.

The mum is desperate for a flat surface and ramp so she can get into the garden easily in her wheelchair, as wells as slides and swings for Gia’s friends to play in.

To donate, click here. 

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