Man who faced double leg amputation for verruca calls for treatment to be made free on NHS

• Katie Fenton speaks to Barry Mayled about his ordeal of potentially having his legs amputated because of a verucca

A man from the Vale of Glamorgan, who was facing a double leg amputation caused by a verruca, is calling for the treatment that saved his legs to be made available on the NHS.

Barry Mayled, 74, was only hours away from having both his legs amputated after suffering from painful skin lesions for four years. However, his legs were saved when he paid privately for microwave therapy, which works by heating the verruca tissue.

Mr Mayled, who has lived with diabetes since the age of 38, was plagued with horrific ulcers, which overtime became worse, despite him having extensive treatment to solve the issue.

The architect and garden designer from Penarth, has shown his gratitude for the Swift device, which saved his life.

"I'm still working and I'm on building sites and everything, and without my legs, that would have been the end of it. As a sole practitioner, my career would have ended if the amputations were carried out.

"At one point I was in hospital surrounded by medics and things were so bad that the main surgeon was just shaking his head. There was pretty much nothing left to try and it was a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’ my legs would have to be amputated below the knees.”

Leg amputations are a well-known complication of diabetes, as the disease can cause reduced blood flow and nerve damage in the lower limbs.

This can lead to wounds, ulcers, and infections becoming gangrenous.

In the case of Mr Mayled, a simple verruca (a wart found on the feet) got out of control when the relatively harmless lesion became infected and ulcerated.

It proved resistant to multiple treatments over four years eventually spreading to both feet, with painful growths behind his big toes. It meant he was left barely able to walk.

As a last resort, a podiatrist looked into treatment with Swift, which uses targeted low energy doses of microwaves to stimulate the immune system.

After monthly treatments over a year, his feet were completely healed.

Mr Mayled said problems started in late 2017.

"I developed what looked like a bruise on my right foot. Later, my wife and I were down in Devon and the bruise got redder and sorer, and eventually burst, becoming septic.

"That was the start of four agonising years of trying to get the correct treatment after it then spread to my left foot. It lingered on to the point where my NHS podiatrist called the surgeon in – who was shaking his head upon the sight of my feet.

"They took X-rays and found the infection was getting closer to the bone, increasing the risk of osteomyelitis.

"As a result of the X-rays there was a little conference going on around me.

"The surgeon was there, the senior podiatrist from the wound clinic and the person dealing with me directly, and they all told me that my only options was to have both limbs put into plaster which would immobilise me, destroying my career with no guarantee it would work.”

With little hope, Mr Mayled turned to podiatrist Tracy Davies of Toetal Footcare Ltd in Cardiff who was using innovative microwave technology to treat verrucae on her patients’ feet.

He underwent seven individual applications of the Swift microwave treatment between July 2022 to April 2023, on five areas of his right foot and three on his left.

The podiatrists at Toetal Footcare Ltd have conducted around 1,000 individual treatments with the Swift device.

Company director and podiatrist Tracy Davies said: “When I first saw Barry at the practice, both his feet were severely ulcerated. He had seen his dermatologist who had confirmed the presence of verrucae tissue in the ulcerations, and he was desperate to prevent amputation.

“My colleagues in the NHS had provided excellent wound care but it was time to look at the problem from a different angle. I wondered if I used Swift to treat the verrucae, would I be able to heal the ulcerations and therefore save Barry’s feet from amputation? Quite frankly we had nothing to lose.”

Ms Davies removed dead and damaged tissue and began the microwave treatment. Over time, Mr Mayled's verrucae and ulcerations started to reduce, completing healing by September last year.

She added: "Barry’s case has highlighted verrucae infection as a possible cause of foot ulcerations failing to heal and has increased the possibilities of using Swift in such cases. This could be far-reaching in the treatment of non-healing foot ulcerations, thus preventing unnecessary amputations.”

Mr Mayled has said he's concerned many people will be in a similar situation to him and urges others to seek out treatment.

Swift was developed in 2016 by scientists Gary Beale and Eamon McErlean in Edinburgh.

However, following calls on the Welsh Government to provide the treatment on the NHS, they have responded with scepticism over its efficacy.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “Due to there being little supporting evidence, we don’t provide any curative intervention for verrucae in the NHS.

"We expect the NHS in Wales to deliver interventional procedures that have been subject to technology assessment prior to being used in the NHS.

"People who need advice and treatment for warts or verrucae should speak to their pharmacist, and people with diabetes at risk of developing foot ulcers should be cared for by their health board podiatry team.”

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