Man says leg amputation was ‘the best thing that ever happened to him’

A former drug addict whose leg was amputated due to addiction said it was the best thing that ever happened to him.

Brent Keighley, 39, said moving into the house just a few years ago was the “worst mistake” he could have made as he ended up with the wrong company. He eventually started taking hard drugs, including diazepam, which he was initially prescribed to help with his anxiety.

After chronic substance abuse, his groin burst at home, causing him to lose a significant amount of blood. It later ruptured a second time while being treated in the emergency room, forcing doctors to take urgent action and amputate his left leg.

Brent told Grimsby Live: “I was at my house and all of a sudden my groin popped. It splashed everywhere and I lost a lot of blood.”

At the time, Brent said that he was severely depressed and therefore decided not to call an ambulance, hoping that he would die due to blood loss. He added: “Fortunately, the neighbors were worried about me because I didn’t take out the trash cans, which I did no matter what, so they called the police.

“They got to my house and we waited for an ambulance. They told me I couldn’t call a taxi to the hospital or anything if it exploded again.”

Shortly before doctors could administer a direct blood transfusion, Mr. Cayley’s groin burst again. As part of the treatment, the hospital staff had to make the difficult decision to amputate his leg. One nurse even told him that they had never seen anyone with such a low blood count survive.

While most would consider it a tragedy, Brent says it’s “the best thing that ever happened to him.” He continued, “I thought I was invincible, but it really opened my eyes.”

He has been clean for six months now and has received tremendous support from his family and the staff and management of the Blundell Hotel in Cleethorpes, where he currently resides. “They kept a smile on my face and come every morning to check on me,” he added.

“If it wasn’t for my family, I think I would have been dead 10 years ago. The people at the Blundell hotel really took care of me and I am very grateful to them.”

“If you ever become vulnerable and someone offers you heroin, just look at what it does to people. I was that person at one point, and now I’ve lost my leg. .”

The 39-year-old even said he was thinking about opening his own rehab clinic, where he could help other people who have gone down the same path. To raise the funds needed to install it, Brent decided to take a 10-mile charity walk, which his physiotherapist says is a great idea.