A man from Devon, England, was so desperate to end his suffering after spending many painful years with an injured hand that he did the unthinkable—he built a guillotine and cut off his own hand.
According to the Daily Record, Mark Goddard, 44, amputated his arm because he suffered excruciating pain since injuring the arm during a motorbike accident in 1998. Goddard claims to take 40 painkillers a day and says he had to quit his garage job. While Goddard would have preferred for the surgery to have been done professionally in a hospital, Goddard claims that doctors were hesitant to honor his amputation request because his injured hand, despite the nerve damage, was still functional.
It took two weeks for Goddard to build the guillotine. Before amputating, he tied two tourniquets to his arm and had a first aid kit nearby. After severing the hand, he tossed the body part into a fire he had started in an outdoor garden bin. Goddard’s wife came home soon after and, upon discovering the grisly scene, immediately called emergency services.
Local authorities claim Goddard appeared rational when they arrived on the scene. Officers attempted to salvage Goddard’s hand but it was too badly damaged. Goddard hopes his desperate act will convince doctors to implant a spinal stimulator in his back to ease his pain.
