WHEN retired firefighter, Peter Watson was told he had to have open heart surgery following a heart attack, he was scared that something could potentially go wrong.

But he never thought that a vein removal from his leg, necessary for the operation, would leave him permanently disfigured.

Now Mr Watson has launched legal action against after suffering horrific scars after suffering an infection.

The 69-year-old widower from Lyndhurst went into Southampton General Hospital over Christmas in 2013 for an Aortic valve replacement and bypass. Doctors took a vein from his left leg to create bypass graft around the blocked area of his artery.

When the father of three awoke after his surgery, he had a wound on his chest and leg from the operation.

The heart surgery was successful but after a few days his leg began to blister. The blisters then burst causing him severe discomfort.

The nurses removed his stitches and discovered that the leg had become infected. The area became itchy and painful but he claims he was assured that the wound would heal.

After a month of recovery Peter, who retired from Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service in 2001 after 27 years of service and lives alone, was discharged.

He said: “It was difficult to walk but I was able to drive my car to the doctor’s surgery in Lyndhurst every day to get it re-bandaged. “After two and half weeks of having it wrapped and re-wrapped, my doctor noticed that the leg was getting worse.”

Peter was then readmitted to Southampton General Hospital, where he spent a further month and a half for the infection. The pensioner was the put under local anaesthetic and his wound was cleaned out.

The father who has no close family nearby said: “It was still bleeding when they were scraping the infection out.”

Peter then claims he was in a recovery room and noticed that his surgical positioning system filled with blood which then seeped out into his bed.

“I was on my own and it was very frightening. I began to lose consciousness because of the amount of blood.

“I screamed when I came around and a nurse came to help me.”

According to Peter, a doctor then came to see him but was called to another patient moments later.

When the doctor returned, he rushed Peter into surgery where the pensioners leg was then operated on and an emergency blood transfusion was needed.

This is when Peter fir st saw the extent of the infection, he said: “I was so surprised to see a hole in my leg. The hospital had not prepared me for what I was about to see, it was so upsetting to see the look of my leg and very frightening.”

Eventually after a course of antibiotics and cleaning of the leg, a graft was taken from his right leg and placed over the infected left leg.

Now Peter, who suffers from type two diabetes, finds it difficult to walk and has since brought a mobility scooter. He said he now lacks confidence and rarely leaves the house.

“I used to go swimming a lot but now children begin to look and ask questions, which makes me self-conscious. I don’t live, I just exist “Although I have been told by plastic surgeons that it may be possible to improve the appearance of my left leg scar in the future, I am very reluctant to have any more operations because I am so worried about suffering another severe infection.

“This whole episode has been so traumatic, especially the thought of losing my leg.

“I worry that as I get older I will not be able to get around independently or be able to cope with things at home and as someone who led such an active life in the fire service, that thought is incredibly distressing,” said the widower.

Peter has now instructed medical negligence lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to take legal action.

A spokesman for University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust said: “We have received a letter of claim from Mr Watson’s legal representatives and have supplied all medical notes and information about his case to our solicitor for expert review.

“We are unable to make any comment about Mr Watson’s claims as his case is now subject to legal proceedings but would like to offer him our ongoing support and ask him to contact our patient support service if there is anything we can help him with directly in the meantime.”