Nigerian Man Loses Leg After DIY Pedicure Gone Wrong

A Nigerian man living in London has undergone a life-changing leg amputation after a home pedicure went tragically wrong. Olubiyi Jibowu, 57, soaked his feet in a hot bath mixed with Himalayan salt, unaware the water was scalding. When he finally removed his feet, they were covered in severe blisters.

Instead of seeking immediate medical help, he attempted to treat the burns himself with Dettol, a method he remembered from childhood. “I didn’t want them to get infected, so I thought Dettol would make it better,” he said. “I kept pouring it on.” But the skin continued to peel, turned black, and eventually exposed parts of his bone. The pain became unbearable.

Unbeknownst to him, Olubiyi had type 2 diabetes, a condition that dulled his sense of pain and slowed his body’s ability to heal. Despite the worsening injury, he continued walking three miles to work every day, unaware he was developing life-threatening sepsis.

The addiction support worker finally showed his foot to his manager, who immediately sent him home. His sister helped him get to King’s College Hospital, where doctors quickly realised the infection had spread too far. “The moment I got there, I knew it was serious,” he recalled. “They wrapped it up and pumped me full of antibiotics, but there was no healing.”

After weeks in hospital, doctors warned the sepsis could soon reach his organs. The only option left was a below-the-knee amputation. “I was in a state of shock. I really believed there could be a better solution,” Olubiyi said. The surgery went ahead on August 8, 2023, just a month after the initial injury. While the operation brought relief from the excruciating pain, it forced him into a new reality of learning to walk again with a prosthetic leg.

He now urges others to seek medical advice at the first sign of an open wound or infection. “It’s really important to get it checked out as soon as you see anything,” he said. “If I knew I was diabetic, it would have alleviated everything I went through.”

Olubiyi is currently raising funds for a lighter, titanium prosthetic leg to help him regain his mobility and independence. Despite the trauma, he remains hopeful: “It’s going to be okay.”