AFL legend Chris McDermott among the more than 6000 Australians who lose their foot or leg to diabetes-related complications annually

He didn’t realise his foot was turning black after he nicked his toe but the simple accident led to a month long hospital stay and amputation. Warning graphic content.

An AFL legend is among the shocking number of Australians who have lost a body part to a minor cut that quickly deteriorated into a medical emergency.

For inaugural Adelaide Crows captain Chris McDermott the simple act of cutting his toe nails led to the amputation of two toes.

And he’s not alone with around 6300 Australians losing part of their foot or leg annually to diabetes-related complications, according to Diabetes Feet Australia.

Over half-a-million diabetics across the country experience foot problems, with over 47,000 going to hospital each year when what commonly starts as a minor injury or wound becomes infected.

Chris McDermott was diagnosed as diabetic more than 20 years ago. Picture: Tom Huntley

Diagnosed as diabetic more than 20 years ago, McDermott has opened up about having two toes amputated following a diabetes-related complication.

He spent a month in hospital with an opened wound as doctors worked to ensure an infection did not spread further into his foot and leg and said the chain of events started when he nipped some skin while cutting his toenail in December 2019.

McDermott was not in pain but his health deteriorated over the next 36 hours so he visited his doctor where he removed his shoes and socks to discover it had turned black.

“I was in intensive care that night. By the next morning, the toe next to it was black … and halfway up my foot is black, going towards my ankle,” he said.

Fellow South Australian Michael Moss lost his leg from a similar nail cutting mishap.

Michael Moss, 71, lost his leg after getting gangrene from a small toe cut. Picture: Brett Hartwig

The Adelaide father-of-two slipped while trimming his left big toenail, nicked the neighbouring toe, and “like most men” didn’t think too much of it – let alone immediately seek medical help when his wound became infected.

Mr Moss subsequently underwent four operations gradually taking more and more of his foot as surgeons tried to save it.

“At one stage it was cut back to the ankle and they were hoping to save half a foot, but MRI scans continued to show shot spots,” he said.

“Then a vascular surgeon told me ‘if we don’t take the leg off I won’t be talking to you in two months.”

In one of the more bizarre cases, former Gold Coast Suns star Campbell Brown revealed his father-in-law lost a toe after the family dog chewed on it while he was sleeping.

Sabel the dog chewed off Campbell Brown’s father in law’s toes. Picture: Campbell Brown/Twitter

Campbell Brown playing for the Gold Coast in 2013. Picture: AAP Image/Theron Kirkman

Brown explained that the dog, Sabel, got away with the nailbiting midnight snack because his father-in-law, a diabetic, had no feeling in his feet.

A diabetic, Campbell Brown's father-in-law can't feel his toes, causing a major infection when their pet dog chewed on his toe at night. Photo: Campbell Brown/Twitter

Professor of Vascular Surgery at the University of Adelaide, Rob Fitridge noted around 70 to 80 per cent of amputations were now related to diabetes – a significant increase from past decades when the procedure was more commonly associated with smokers experiencing blocked arteries.

Professor Fitridge said infections could spread rapidly without pain or obvious symptoms

in diabetics because they experienced peripheral neuropathy – which causes a loss of sensation and the inability to feel injuries in their extremities such as feet.

Rob Fitridge Professor of Vascular Surgery at the University of Adelaide. Picture: Supplied

“You might go to the beach and just sort of tread on something sharp or you get a blister when you wear a new pair of shoes and that breaks down and you didn’t realise that something was painful or rubbing,” he said.

“So that’s the precipitating event.

“If you cut yourself, bugs can get in.

“If you can’t feel it you won’t realise you have an injury, so infection can set in and get quite advanced before you realise because it’s not painful.”

But it’s not just a loss of sensation that makes diabetics susceptible to infection, Professor Fitridge explained diabetics also experienced reduced blood flow, due to blocked arteries, which meant wounds did not always heal effectively.

“In diabetes, what we often see is the arteries, particularly from the knee to the foot, tend to get blocked,” he said.

“You might have inadequate blood flow or reduced blood flow which means that you haven’t got enough blood getting there to heal the wound.”

Professor Fitridge is a member of the International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot which provides guidelines on the prevention and management of diabetic foot complications.

Originally published as AFL legend Chris McDermott among the more than 6000 Australians who lose their foot or leg to diabetes-related complications annually