'I had to choose between my legs or my life'

Jim Meehan lived an active life, running marathons well into his 70s, but that came to an end when a minor injury led to gangrene in his foot, and eventually his leg had to be amputated below the knee.

Now at 82 he is learning to walk again, and has written a book about his experience.

He was a keen mountaineer, cyclist and runner, but at 53 he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

"My choice was, you either give in or you fight it, and I decided that I was going to fight it," he said.

Mr Meehan managed his condition with diet and exercise, but shortly before his 80th birthday he began to experience problems with his foot.

"I stumped my toe on a dress shoe and it got inflamed so when I went to my diabetes clinic they gave me some antibiotics, but it didn't get better."

He said the pain persisted and on one feverish night he fell out of bed in his Solihull home and the gangrene in his foot started weeping.

He was rushed to hospital and remembered waking up to eight vascular surgeons around him.

"They told me my options and I said: 'So what you're saying, it's my leg or my life?'

"They said: 'Yeah, and you've got the symptoms of sepsis.'"

People who have diabetes are at risk of developing wounds and sores that do not heal well and are vulnerable to infection.

When an infection overwhelms the body, it can cause sepsis and septic shock.

Mr Meehan's left leg was amputated below the knee in March 2022 due to poor blood circulation and sepsis, while his right leg was amputated in April 2023 after he developed gangrene in his other foot.

He has now turned his experience into a book, called Your Legs or Your Life, which he hopes will help both amputees and able-bodied adults to learn from his experience and coping strategies.

"You have to laugh at yourself, and you have to be grateful for being able to be positive," he said.

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