Man amputates his OWN leg because he could not afford hospital operation

A man has sawn off his own leg to save his life because his family could not afford for him to have an operation.

Zheng Yanliang used a metal saw and a knife to perform the operation while biting down on a piece of wood. The farmer took the drastic action after suffering with intense pain from an arterial embolism in his leg. Zheng from Boading in Hefei Province first began to experience pain in his leg in January 2012.
But after a number of hospital visits his family could not afford to pay for an operation to have the leg amputated, Sky News reports.
The 47-year-old was sent home in agony - and reportedly given just three months to live. He decided to amputate his own leg in April last year - biting down on a piece of wood wrapped in cloth.
He bit down with such force due to the pain that he lost three teeth, according to reports. Zheng's wound has healed, but he now has an embolism in his other leg.
Following media coverage of his plight, a doctor in Shanghai has offered to amputate his remaining leg for free.

Jeez this just makes me really thankful for the healthcare system we have here, it doesn't matter how poor you are! What a brave guy, it's sad that he had to do this himself.

link

This really does fit with the saying ' Desperate times, call for desperate measures'.

I really cannot begin to imagine how desperate this poor guy must have been, but it certainly does make you thankful for the health service in the U.K. Depite all its shortcomings.

reply to post by Lady_Tuatha

Jeez this just makes me really thankful for the healthcare system we have here, it doesn't matter how poor you are!

Too bad this isn't true in the US.

WOW, absolutly shocking !!! ....This is something a human being would ever have to go through.

Wow that poor guy. This makes me thankful for the NHS, just hope the Tories don't completely ruin it. Out of interest can I ask our American friends, could this kind of thing happen in the US or would the guy be taken care of even if he didn't have insurance and couldn't pay, what is the deal?

reply to post by Lady_Tuatha

This is what you will get with government run health care.

WaterBottle
reply to post by Lady_Tuatha

 

Jeez this just makes me really thankful for the healthcare system we have here, it doesn't matter how poor you are!

Too bad this isn't true in the US.

Arterial embolism is considered an emergency in the US and the guy would have had hospital treatment without consideration of cost. Violation of EMTALA law would be quite painful for the hospital and the physicians involved. I consider your statement as simply ridiculous--it must be either disinfo with an agenda or the product of swallowing too much propaganda.

reply to post by Tusks


would he be hit with the bill afterwards? If so, how does that work if he cant pay it?

Lady_Tuatha
reply to post by Tusks

 

would he be hit with the bill afterwards? If so, how does that work if he cant pay it?

Sure they would send a bill, but hospitals and collection agencies understand you can't get blood from a turnip.
If someone has money or property and the hospital has saved their lives or eased their suffering, then that person needs to pay their hospital bills.

If patient is destitute, the hospital usually tries to get the patient to apply for Medicaid.

All hospitals "eat" a lot of these kind of bills every year.

reply to post by Tusks


ah right.

Still I prefer the way it is here, no bills,fees or money has to change hands in order to get hospital treatment, the last thing I would want to worry about after getting a leg amputated would be having to pay for it

Lady_Tuatha
reply to post by Tusks

 

ah right.

Still I prefer the way it is here, no bills,fees or money has to change hands in order to get hospital treatment, the last thing I would want to worry about after getting a leg amputated would be having to pay for it

There's an old saying--"There's no such thing as a Free Lunch."

WaterBottle
reply to post by Lady_Tuatha

 

Jeez this just makes me really thankful for the healthcare system we have here, it doesn't matter how poor you are!

Too bad this isn't true in the US.

Actually, before I clicked on the title, I thought this thread was about the US.

Scouse100
Wow that poor guy. This makes me thankful for the NHS, just hope the Tories don't completely ruin it. Out of interest can I ask our American friends, could this kind of thing happen in the US or would the guy be taken care of even if he didn't have insurance and couldn't pay, what is the deal?

It depends on what his insurance covers. There are cases you can look up where this happens. Maybe not amputation but where children die right outside of hospitals because they aren't at the right one or denied life-saving treatment because they are uninsured.

Hopefully that's changing soon but, yeah, it's a reality here. Most Americans don't have to look much further than their own city to tell you of an example.


ps edit - I wanted to add that our hospitals will treat people in emergency situations like car accidents and the like but you still lose your house and car over it. Any American who is either barely or below middle class is about one major injury or sickness away from homelessness.

VforVendettea
This is what you will get with government run health care.

Yeah... government run health care just like all the Brits have. The same Brits who would get the treatment for free.

Unlike your NON-government ran healthcare.

Chinese healthcare sucks because it's China, not because it's nationalized.

reply to post by Lady_Tuatha


Wow! What a survivor!
Just one more example of the human desire to continue living regardless of what it takes. I wonder if any of us would have the fortitude to do what this man did to try to survive? Blessings to him and his family!

It is funny how so many people have such a terrible opinion of the US healthcare system, and yet, they are alive... There are so many laws and programs in place, and have been for decades, that protect people from dying due to a lack of funds. There are even free hospitals and clinics... Maybe people need to do their own research, not through propaganda websites and news agencies, but through the actual track records of the hospitals and insurance companies.

What so many of you foolish people that jump onto this ACA/Obamacare band wagon fail to realize is that the insurance companies, the ones who wrote the freaking bill, are the ones responsible for using delay tactics and refusals, not the medical industry itself.

Insurance companies are greedy, selfish, and uncaring companies, and yet so many think they they can write a law to mandate insurance witbout that predisposition to those three traits impacting it... Look at the complexity of car insurance and home insurance, IT SPILLS OVER TO THIS, they will refuse coverage to events that your plan does not cover. That is why the plans being offered are so confusing, because there are too many options as to what one might need in the future.

THE COST OF COVERAGE IS TIED TO THE TYPE OF COVERAGE. What this means is that if you want essentially "liability insurance" then you will not pay much, but if you want "full coverage" heath insurance, YOU WILL PAY DEARLY. This only creates the same system we have now only with a new mandate.

WAKE UP YOU FOOLS.

Tusks




There's an old saying--"There's no such thing as a Free Lunch."

Maybe not but hospital and debt collection agency dont come knocking on your door and takeing everything you have just for needed medical treatment.

crazyewok

Tusks




There's an old saying--"There's no such thing as a Free Lunch."

Maybe not but hospital and debt collection agency dont come knocking on your door and takeing everything you have just for needed medical treatment.

The doctors, nurses, and hospitals must still be paid. Putting Government bureaucracies between patient and doctor has never decreased costs.

Tusks

crazyewok

Tusks




There's an old saying--"There's no such thing as a Free Lunch."

Maybe not but hospital and debt collection agency dont come knocking on your door and takeing everything you have just for needed medical treatment.

The doctors, nurses, and hospitals must still be paid. Putting Government bureaucracies between patient and doctor has never decreased costs.

Maybe the red tape needs cutting back.

But putting debt collecters between patient and doctor isnt nice either.

And yes they still get paid here as we have to pay towards in tax. I never said it was "free".

But as I said we dont lose our homes and belongings.

We like it much better that way