Man hacks off his ‘smelly’ gangrenous right foot with a kitchen knife in Ukraine, sparking murder probe after neighbour’s dog brings it home
- Vladimir Tverdokhleb, 62, chopped his right foot off without taking painkillers
- His wife Tatiana said the couple did not have enough money for hospital care
- She threw the severed appendage out where dog took it and brought it home
- The discovery prompted police to search for other body parts, fearing a murder
A man cut his foot off and threw it away after performing a DIY amputation at home, sparking a mistaken murder probe when a dog found the body part.
Vladimir Tverdokhleb, 62, chopped his right foot off with a kitchen knife after he developed dry gangrene and noticed a horrible smell.
According to local media he sliced it off without taking any painkillers before his wife Tatiana, who said the couple did not have enough money for an amputation in hospital, threw it on a rubbish pile nearby.
But the stinking foot attracted a nearby dog, in the village of Okhtyrka in north-eastern Ukraine, who found it and brought it to its home.
Vladimir Tverdokhleb (pictured after the amputation), 62, chopped his right foot off with a kitchen knife after he developed dry gangrene and noticed a horrible smell
Vladimir Tverdokhleb, pictured left, after his DIY amputation, cut the foot off before his wife Tatiana, right, threw it on a nearby rubbish pile
A neighbour, a pensioner called Irina who owns the dog, spotted the foot in her courtyard.
She said: ‘It [the dog] brought something black and was about to eat it. I became curious and approached to look at it.
‘At first I could not make what was it. Then I saw toes and nails and realised it was a human body part. I felt sick.
‘I cannot even describe how terrified I was at that moment.’
The old lady chased the dog away and reported the find to the police.
Fearing a murder, police officers started searching the area trying to find any other missing body parts.
Okhtyrka Police chief Ruslan Kladko said: ‘We suspected that there might have been a corpse in the area. We searched rubbish dumps and abandoned houses but found nothing.’
Pensioner Irina, pictured, received a fright when her dog picked the foot up from a rubbish pile and brought it home
Tatiana is pictured near the couple’s home in north-eastern Ukraine. She said the couple could not afford hospital treatment
Meanwhile Tverdokhleb started experiencing complications after his DIY amputation.
His wife called an ambulance and he was taken to hospital. Doctors diagnosed him with inflammation to his right leg, saying that it was caused by his DIY amputation.
Okhtyrka Regional Hospital head surgeon Vitaly Stetsenko said: ‘The man was hospitalised after he cut his foot off on his own.
‘He told us that on March 18 he cut his right foot off with a kitchen knife. Apparently the foot rotted and he managed to cut it off.
‘He still needs surgery and further treatment as his right leg is still infected with gangrene.’
After police determined that Tverdokhleb was the ‘owner’ of the foot, they closed the investigation.
Ruslan Kladko, the police chief, whose officers suspected a murder after finding the foot and looked for other missing body parts
He reportedly started having health problems last year after stepping on a nail and piercing his right foot.
He did not seek medical help, thinking that his wound would heal, but ended up with gangrene.
His wife Tatiana told local media that her husband decided to cut the foot off because the couple did not have enough money to pay for treatment in the hospital.
She said: ‘We did not have money to pay for hospital. He [her husband] decided to cut the foot on his own as it was black and had a horrible stench.’
Now, after the story made headlines in Ukrainian media, Vladimir Tverdokhleb is receiving medical treatment for free, it has been reported. Doctors say he will be be better soon.