How To Avoid The Cut!

Here in Australia, someone has a limb amputated every two hours as a result of diabetic foot disease. That’s 12 people every single day!

- Karen Fittall

Amputation in Australia is the second-highest rate in the developed world. But why is it happening? What is the reality of life as an amputee? How can you avoid becoming another statistic? We’ve got the answers for you.

“I used to think having diabetes was like having a cold – a bit annoying, a bit inconvenient, but nothing too serious,” says 53-year-old Rod Winton from his home in Perth. “That was until I had to have some toes amputated from my right foot four years ago. I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t believe it was all happening as a result of my diabetes.”

Diagnosed 10 years ago with type 2, Rod suffered another blow at the start of 2018: now his left foot was under siege.

“I went to bed one Friday night, feeling a bit ‘off’, and by Saturday morning my little toe was completely black. Over the next two weeks, I had multiple surgeries, losing all my toes on that foot and eventually having to have the entire top section of my left foot removed. I was incredibly lucky not to lose my lower leg, but it hit me hard, and not just physically. That’s the thing about amputations.

“I couldn’t work, we nearly lost the house and it took a full year until I could even put weight on my left foot or submerge it in water, because the wound took so long to heal thanks to the complications of being a diabetic.

“You might think losing a few toes is nothing to worry about, but until you’ve experienced it, you can’t understand. Apart from anything else, I’ve fallen over that many times, it’s unbelievable.”

Diabetic foot disease is Australia’s least known major health problem, costing the nation $1.6 billion each year. About $875 million is spent every 12 months on diabetes-related amputations alone, with each