Monday 28 November 2022 06:23 PM Amateur footballer, 37, 'almost lost his leg after being kicked below his knee ... trends now
Dale Elliott pictured here with his two sons, is lucky to have kept his leg after a bizarre injury during an amateur football match
When Dale Elliott was kicked during an amateur football match, the thought of losing his leg never once crossed his mind.
But that was almost the reality for the 37-year-old.
A kick just below his left knee led him to suffer from compartment syndrome, a medical emergency caused by swelling within an enclosed bundle of muscles.
Surgery to relieve him of his agony left him battling an infection and turned his foot 'black'.
Doctors claim Mr Elliott, a builder from Canvey Island in Essex, is lucky to have escaped without needing to have his leg amputated.
His family say they're 'just hoping he'll walk again'.
Although the father-of-two avoided the threat of amputation, his life-changing ordeal triggered by an amateur game at the end of October isn't over.
He will still have to spend Christmas Day in hospital.
Mr Elliott faces three months of recovery and rehab to build up the strength to walk again. He has only just started using a wheelchair.
He has already had to spend almost all of November without seeing his sons, aged two and four, due to strict infection prevention control measures in place to protect his injuries.
Recalling his injury, Mr Elliott said: 'I can't describe the pain. It was excruciating.'
He went to A&E at Southend Hospital, despite his wife Stephanie saying the injury was probably just from him 'getting older'.
A kick to his leg during the game gave Mr Elliott compartment syndrome a dangerous swelling of the internal tissues of the limb that can starve parts of the limb of oxygen
He then says he spent hours waiting to be seen and, at one point, vomited because of the sheer pain.
'They gave me two doses of morphine which didn't even hit the sides,' he added.
'That's when I think they realised how serious it was.'
Mr Elliott eventually got a bed but was told that he would need to wait eight hours for surgery.
Doctors eventually told Mr Elliott that he had suffered from compartment syndrome and that his leg might need amputating.
Surgeons were forced to cut open a massive portion of his leg to relieve the pressure in an attempt to save the limb
Grisly pictures show the extent of the cuts required to relieve the pressure in Mr Elliott's leg. In some cases of compartment syndrome surgeons need to keep the wound open for lengthy periods to allow the pressure to subside
Compartment syndrome is a painful and potentially serious condition caused by bleeding or swelling within an enclosed bundle of muscles – known as a muscle compartment.
It generally occurs in the legs or arms.
The pressure can constrict the supply of blood and oxygen to the rest of the limb, and damage the muscles and nerves in that area.
It is considered a medical emergency by the NHS because it can lead to permanent muscle damage if not treated quickly.
The condition is treated by a surgeon making an incision exposing the muscles to relieve the pressure inside.
This wound is left open for sometimes days at a time until the pressure subsides and surgeons
