PORTLAND, Ore. (September 19, 2012)—Paul “Steve Gaylord, 60, of Pineville, Ore., who nearly died from the plague in June, has lost his withered fingers and toes to the disease known as the Black Death.
Doctors amputated his blackened extremities in an operation that lasted 2 1/2 hours Monday at the St. Charles Medical Center in Bend.
Gaylord told The Oregonian the surgery was successful, but painful.
He said he's happy to be alive and wants to get out of pain and be able to walk and do things for himself.
He now faces months of physical therapy.
Gaylord was infected in June when he tried to take a mouse out of the throat of his choking cat.
