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(CNN) -- An 80-year-old man was forced to undergo emergency surgery to have his leg amputated following a hospital blunder in which the broken limb was encased too tightly in a plaster cast.
Tom Talks, from Rochdale, northwestern England, also suffered a heart attack and renal failure brought on by the shock of the operation, he told the UK's Press Association.
The plaster cast was fitted at Fairfield General Hospital in Bury, near Manchester, two months ago after Talks broke his right leg when he fell whilst walking his dog.
But he said hospital staff had dismissed his complaints that the cast was too tight, telling him to "take stronger painkillers."
"The pressure in my leg was such I felt as though it was trying to burst through the skin. I was begging and pleading with them to release the plaster because I couldn't stand the pain," he told PA.
Two days after the cast was removed, Talk's doctor warned him that the leg had "died" and told him that his life was in danger -- forcing surgeons to amputate the leg above the knee.
"I was told 'Today you're a lucky man, you are standing on two legs, but tomorrow if you're standing on two legs you're a dead man. They said 'Your leg is absolutely dead and there is absolutely nothing that can be done for it'.
Talks, who remains in hospital, opted to undergo the operation because he feared his 84-year-old wife would be unable to cope by herself and said he hoped the blunder would not be repeated.
"Obviously it was an error. I should have had my leg attended to but because it wasn't I've lost my leg. But anger never does anyone any good in my opinion, I'm a forward-looking person. All I'm hoping for is this is shown up so this doesn't happen again."
A hospital spokesman confirmed that a complaint had been filed but made no further comment, PA said.
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