'I need a leg - Man desperate to get prosthetic limb

It has been close to six years since Sydney Clue's leg was amputated, but the memory is fresh in his mind.

The 72-year-old said his heart is heavy with sorrow, the result of his life-altering ordeal at a Corporate Area hospital.

Today, the former JUTA bus driver said his only source of income comes from selling handmade hammocks and handbags in his Gordon Town community in St Andrew.

The father of 10 said he could provide more for his family if he had a prosthetic leg but he is unable to afford it.

"I have two teenage children and I would like to help them out even more, but because me foot cut off, it prevent me from getting a good job," he said.

Clue is adamant that he lost his leg because the doctors were negligent. He told THE STAR that in December 2011, he was rushed to hospital because he was having abdominal pain.

He was told by hospital staff that a CT scan and ultrasound were needed to identify the cause of the pain.

MASS FOUND

"The CT scan machine wasn't working, so they said they had to keep me until the machine start work. A few weeks later (January 2012), I did the CT scan and ultrasound. I was told I needed to an operation on my stomach because they saw a mass inside me, so they wanted a sample of it to test," he said.

Weeks later, Clue eventually did the operation, but when he regained consciousness he realised that a section of his left leg was bandaged.

He said he was told that he had an aneurysm (swelling of a blood vessel).

He said his leg didn't receive medical attention until three days later, and shortly after he began losing sensation in the affected area.

"My foot turned black and when I made the shout, the doctor come and say, 'Mr Clue, we have to amputate it'. I said, 'But doctor, I come here with a stomach problem and you telling me you have to cut off my foot?' Me never go in bout no leg business and me just keep on a ask why, but him say it up to me if me wa cut it off or let it stay and probably kill me," he said.

He said that two weeks later, doctors had to reopen his stomach "because dem say tings never set right.

"And likkle after that, dem have to cut off piece a the bone off a me leg again. No form of injection or anything, me feel the two inches a bone that dem cut off," he added.

Clue said he remained in the hospital for months, as the doctors said that they were doing more tests.

He said he was eventually discharged in June and went home to a very different life, as he had to obtain crutches to help him get around.

He said his woes have worsened, as his 'good' leg was injured after he fell while walking in Gordon Town.

"Me a do me little hustling with the hammocks but sometimes things really slow. For the past three weeks, me no sell nothing at all, so me would just want a leg so I can get up and do other work," he said.

Persons wishing to assist Sydney Clue may contact him at 876 874 4129.