Following up on yesterday’s amputation post…
A friend of mine in South Africa was looking to amputate a toe, and instead of chopping it off himself, he chose to induce an infection so serious that it had to be amputated by doctors. After getting an infection intially, he kept the infection getting worse by standing in dirty fish ponds, putting motor oil on it, and more (first photo). After doctors amputated the toe (second photo), the infection remained, and doctors were forced to do a midfoot ampuation (third photo) that’s almost approaching a “hoof” as it heals. The procedure is totally different, but in a way it reminds me of Chinese foot binding.
I know a number of folks who’ve chosen to “induce” amputation by the medical community using infections, and I must strongly emphasize that this is far more dangerous than simply doing the amputation yourself because infections of this severity can easily go systemic and be fatal — far better off faking a woodworking accident, hunting accident, or something of that nature that fits ones lifestyle and then seeking immediate medical attention.
Update: Read the interview!
Comments
96 responses to “Self-Induced Infection Leading to Amputations”
This is plain stupidity.
The cynic in me says that you’ve posted this to throw more flame on the fire that is the comments in yesterday’s post 🙂
Unfortunate that the infection spread past your friend’s intentions 🙁
I dunno why, but I really enjoy the 1st photo.
The Q-Tip inside reminds me of cleaning fun times. 🙂
The hoof is kind of a neat result, something oddly natural about it.
very interesting!but he didn’t get what he want…and along this way its a sad story…
I think this is very dangerously irrepsonsible…plus as said before, he didn’t get what he originally wanted…I wonder what’s his though on the result
You know.. I’m so incredibly openminded, but… that officially crosses the border between interesting and stupid. That’s just…. meh. I was fine with the other DIY guy. NOt this one. Meh.
christ on a moped!!
INTENSE!!!!!
well done :-/
Fucking dumb cunt.
Bit of a pity it didnt keep spreading isnt it? Asshole holding up people who really do need surgury/the attention of a doctor just so he can take the easy way out of doing an amputation, leaving himself no other option.
And to the same old people who always say “but its his body he can do what he wants blah blah blah” FUCKING SUCK MY COCK YOU DUMB MOTHERFUCKERS WHO THINK THAT THIS IS ANYTHING MORE THAN A CRY FOR ATTENTION.
YOUR NOT INDIVIDUAL YOUR FUCKED
The end
I have to agree with Post #3…there’s something that seems irresponsible about these actions. Yes, I understand the desire of wanting to change one’s body, in whatever forms that may take–including amputation–but there is something about these very deliberate actions that frightens me because of the potential of losing control.
I think some people here should stop drinking coffee…
Anyway, wow… That’s a really hardcore way to get rid of your toe. And very dangerous (he could easily have poisoned his blood).
I’d like to know what were his motivation for using such a method.
I just keep imagining the pain of having an infection like that…
Congratulations freaks!!! Thats very beautyful. Boaaa
I would agree that “inducing an infection” is by far more dangerous than a self-done amputation, because you can’t really control an infection.
I really don’t see why people get so angry over amputations, sure, they are more extreme, but removing sections of flesh(such as punches or even tounge splitting) versus removing digits doesn’t really seem like a far stretch to me. If it is what the person wants and they are happier with it (or should i say without it? hah) then it shouldn’t matter. Not to mention, i think that if you have the balls to chop off your own body parts, go for it.
Haha, Anyways, I’ve heard in something like 500-1000 years we won’t have our smallest toes (pinky toes?) anymore, because we’ve worn shoes for so long that we no longer need it for balance and such. I wish I’d be alive to see that!
“I think some people here should stop drinking coffee…”
Excellent comment 🙂 some people are far too excitable. As I sit here with the days’ eighth mug…
This is the first time since its inception that two posts in a row have made me cringe. Nail infections get me, too :p Congratulations!
I confess I do have *slight* sympathy with the viewpoint that he’s holding up people with infections they *didn’t* choose to get, but frankly, if there was an easier and safer “official” route offered I’m pretty sure he would have taken that. Besides, I imagine a fair proportion of the people who let infections get that bad accidentally before they seek medical attention are far more worthy of a Darwinian fate! After all, look at how much effort he had to conciously put in to get it that bad. And people manage that accidentally!
Actually – that only applies if he didn’t go private.
I love tattoos and things of the kind, but I don’t understand this level of stupidity.
This just made me think of how when you get into situations like this you end up getting(or in his case losing) a lot more than you bargained for…I think I’d much rather chop off a body part and deal with the psychiatric treatment that’s bound to follow than have to go through what this guy must have gone through.
I hope it was worth it:/
“Far better off faking a woodworking accident, hunting accident, or something of that nature that fits ones lifestyle and then seeking immediate medical attention.”
Either that or, I dunno, not do it and walk around on healthy feet. That’s what I’d do.
#15, chel…
“but removing sections of flesh(such as punches or even tounge splitting) versus removing digits doesn’t really seem like a far stretch to me”
some one on the other topic said something along those lines as well… but used tongue piercing as an example, anyways… its not on the same level at all… punches and tongue splitting dont really alter the way your body functions(im sure there are exceptions)its an alteration in appearance only… where as amputation can completely alter your body structure… just think this poor(stupid) individual will have to use a cane, a prostesis or simply limp the rest of his life… now he made a conscious decision to do so… this is completely beyond a dermal punch… you are altering your body in a negative way… and one way or another it will catch up with you…
#20. its only a “negative” way to you – I highly doubt that this guy or the guy in the post previous care if they have a slight limp, need to use a cane or a prostesis.
Seeing things like this make me wish doctors would just do what people ask them to do, as long as it’s not life threatening. There’s no harm in wanting to remove a toe if it’s done properly. Unfortunately, we brand these people as mentally ill if they ask for this kind of work, so it pushes them to extremes like this to get it.
If someone wants something, they’ll do it. No matter what it takes. Why shouldn’t we help them do it safely?
retarded and gross. feel free to judge me for judging others 😛
now, just because i think this is stupid, doesn’t mean im against people doing this. i think people should be as fucked up as they want to be
Ty Tweeder:
I don’t think it’s fair to say that all amputations are altering the body in a negative way. Without being the person desiring the amputation, you have no way to know how that will effect them. I do agree that this is probably the most reckless way to do something like this, and he probably got more interference with the function of his foot than he was after initially. But the argument that ‘this would be detrimental to my life, so it must be wrong for yours too’ does not make much sense to me. I’m not sure that it applies for this post, because a partial foot amputation was not what this man originally intended, but perhaps the person in the last post would prefer to limp, or use a cane, or perhaps he will be able to adapt and walk normally, how are we to know?
You could compare it to full body tattooing. Look at people like the Lizard Man, or Lucky Diamond Rich, and you could say that they have completely altered the way that they have to interact and function in society. A lot of people would consider the consequences of standing out like that to be detrimental, but they both seem to be quite happy and well adjusted. Don’t you think the same thing is possible for self-amputees?
Just my thoughts.
Wow…that does seem to be pushing it a bit more than the last post, since he lost control over it, but hey, live and let live. Hope it heals alright though, and hope he likes the end result. 🙂
Now, to Je Suis and TyTweeder…why are you guys bashing people and saying you wish the infection would get worse? That’s just stupid…you’re wishing death on someone just because you don’t agree with their choices…they didn’t do anything to you, so why are you being douchebags to them? It’s their life, let them do with it what they want. It’s not for you, but that’s why *they* did it, not you. If you don’t like the stuff you see on modblog, no one is forcing you to come.
Oh, and it does remind me of Chinese foot binding…not the process, but the result. I had a class that studied that last spring and it looked a lot like this…interesting.
I’m with The Eternal on this.
Self inflicted shot wounds or other accidents, infections that go beyond the effect they should have, all this dangerous stuff and the needless suffering could be avoided if people could just go to a doctor and have the modification they need done under safe and secure circumstances.
I agree with several others here: This passes beyond the line of “extreme modification” and crosses right in to just plain *stupid*.
I have no problems with DIY amputation, but DIY infect-myself-so-badly-I-could-die-in-the-hopes-some-doctor-will-cut-off-part-of-my-body…
Just stupid. This person isn’t “expressing themself”, they’re calling out for help. This is not a healthy expression of an inner desire, it’s a pathological expression of an unbalanced mind.
That’s my opinion.
#20 TyTweeter
You may see it as altering their body in a negative way, but for that person, they may see it as a positive. Like i said, as long as they want it and are willing to take steps to do it -hopefully as safely as possible- I don’t see why you can say that it is wrong.
Also, not all amputations leave the person “crippled” the removal of a finger, toe, or even part of one can be a very positive and spiritual thing for someone.
Example: https://www.bmezine.com/news/pubring/20050401.html
>>29
Check the date on that pubring entry. It’s an April Fool’s Day post, this came up before.
(Not to make any statement about taking off a finger, certainly people have done that/had it done for a while now…)
this was an incredibly unwise and unsafe decision on the amputee’s part.
I think yesterday’s way of doing it was much better. TRYING to make your body infected… I don’t get that.
Oh, I guess I want to say something to #20 ty tweeder too…. what makes you assume that amputation is defacto “negative” alteration of the body? That’s a purely subjective label. For my part, I don’t think it’s negative at all if someone wants to chop off a hunk of their body… as long as THEY are happy with the results in their entirety.
BUT… if what you want is to hack off a chunk of your body, getting it infected to the point where it threatens your life so that someone ELSE will chop it off… that is just plain stupid. The dangers involved with such a maneuver are far beyond reasonable and completely outweigh the benefits and again, I think it’s an expression of a pathologically unbalanced mind.
A little OT, but I love how often I see that April fool’s experience referenced as fact! I think to date it’s still my favourite IAM April 1st.
to me bodymodification is adding beauty not removing usefull things. but as long as someone doesnt influence others life ( like needing help, not beeing able to earn their own money anymore) do whatever pleases you!
#35, Lil Miss Strange, this person’s decision to idiotically and critically injure themselves to get a doctor to amputate DOES effect other people, such as the people with genuine physical maladies (as opposed to this individuals mental illness) who need this doctor’s attention.
And before anyone cries “Please, the doctor has time to handle each patient obviously” remember that small actions can create huge reactions. This person’s self-indulgent foolishness may have, in some small way, contributed to the serious ongoing pain and suffering of another person waiting to see the doctor(s) involved. To me that’s unacceptable and arrogant in the extreme. Really, the more I think about it the more incensed I am at this fool’s actions. If it were only himself that he were needlessly endangering that would one thing. But using a doctor’s precious time to attend to something as utterly dumb as this….
Amputating by this manner is ignorance on it’s greatest level. Don’t bitch at me for being narrow minded about amputation, I’m perfectly fine with it but creating an infection to obtain that modification is just plain stupid. If you have an opposing argument to that, try me.
I’m amazed at how much they wanted to get amputated to go through much more pain?
#38 Mikey, this isn’t about wanting to get amputated. There’s a serious issue at play here, the amputation is the result not the cause.
One of the major problems I have here is the association that those watching will make. We are all here because we love body art in some way yet how many of us truly want to be associated with these kind of actions ?
When someone looks up Body Modification on the net I want them to see the beautiful aesthetic contributions that we all make to world of Body Art. I don’t want them associating us with these kind of deliberate negative elements and as such I feel that situations like this are nothing to do with genuine modification.
Micah “it’s a pathological expression of an unbalanced mind.
That’s my opinion.”
Spot on as usual Micah.
Ditto to number 28. Has the infection-inducing amputation method been implemented in Canada before? I think it’d be completely assbackward to make taxpayers pay for someone else’s purposeful irresponsibility.
DO NOT COMPARE FULL BODY TATTOOS TO AMPUTATIONS!
what a joke… i would have liked to think that society was getting smarter… im wrong i know but i would like to think it was. i cant off the top of my head recall any other society in history that had people lobbing their own limbs off… there has always been tatting and peircing… they are seen as enhancing beauty and all that bullshine… but amputation… fuck off… i have no respect for this. zero.
im sure my post seem incoherent and hard to follow… but its jsut becuz im flabbergasted at people supporting others for doing this… i mean i used to have a problem with implants, but i grew to accept them, i still dont like the way 98.99% of them look but i can understand why people would want to do it. amputation on the other hand i will never understand… flame on im loving this topic…
wait a minute though… i just thought of a good reason to amputate… in the movie “the prestige” when christian bale amputates his twins fingers to match his own that hugh jackman shot off… or in “saw” when that dude had to saw off his own foot… but wait… these people did it for a reason… and they were just movies… oh well…
#40 Giles wallwork.
that is all that need be said. summed up perfectly.
#36
So, based on your belief should he have been ‘pushed to the back of the line’ as far as getting medical care so that people with legitimate problems would be seen first? Yes, what he did was stupid and yes, I think it is utterly ridiculous to purposefully infect yourself, but should we just let him die of a systemic infection because he did it to himself?
What about people with drug addiction problems who overdose? Should we let them die instead of getting them medical attention because ‘they did it to themselves’? Or people who try to commit suicide? How about someone who goes and gets a piercing, then it becomes infected? It’s their fault because they weren’t taking care of it properly; does that mean we shouldn’t treat them?
Everyone deserves medical treatment, regardless of how the injury was sustained and whether or not you agree with it.
>>45
No, they shouldn’t let him die. But they shouldn’t shrink back from telling him just how reckless and selfish he was, either.
oh dear, what a mess.
#46
I agree.. I would hope at some point the people treating him required him to undergo some type of psychological evaluation. I know that is mandatory practice in the hospitals here in the United States to get a psychiatric consultation whenever someone has self-mutilated, but seeing as how this is South Africa; I’m sure their policies vary greatly.
i dont think the doctor side of this has anything to do with anything… i mean… people with real problems needing to be amputated most likely already had to wait a few days… whats a couple days more? the whole doctor hospital process is all about waiting anyways… anyone bringing that up is just ignoring the topic at hand…
also… imagine the different tune everyone would be singing if this guy did die from infection… ponder that
footsey would be fun!