Bullhead City, Arizona: Grandfather facing above-knee amputation after fall on hot footpath

Bullhead City, Arizona: Grandfather facing above-knee amputation after fall on hot footpath

A grandfather who was stuck on a burning hot footpath for at least an hour after a fall is now facing amputation.

Grant Siler went for a walk in Bullhead City, Arizona, on August 3 in 48C weather when he tripped and fell, rendering him unconscious.

It is believed he laid on the hot footpath for at least one hour before a passerby found the 72-year-old, poured water on him and called emergency services.

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She helped the man regain consciousness and located his home address.

When emergency services arrived, Mr Siler was reportedly shaking uncontrollably with a core body temperature of more than 40 degrees, a temperature which can lead to permanent brain damage and seizures in older adults.

He suffered second and third degree burns to multiple areas of his body.

Mr Siler was taken to a burns intensive care unit in Las Vegas where he remains.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help his wife Vicki, who organiser Stephanie Anderson said needed to juggle working and visiting her husband 1.5 hours away in hospital.

In the description, Ms Anderson wrote that Mr Siler had suffered “multiple organ-shock as well as heat stroke”.

“He is in constant pain, can barely move, and has undergone two debridements (wound treatment),” she wrote.

Devastatingly, the grandfather will next undergo an above-knee amputation.

“During surgery the surgeon found that the tissue in Grant’s right leg is so extremely damaged that it would likely not ever fully heal,” Ms Anderson wrote.

“The doctors feel he will overall heal faster and have better pain control this way.

“We can all imagine that after any amputation, the road to recovery is long and hard… physically, mentally and emotionally.

“There will now be added costs to house renovations, home medical supplies, prosthetics, etc.”

So far, the fundraiser has made $US11,670 ($A16,245) since August 18.

Mr Siler’s daughter Heather Cook told FOX10 he was in a lot of pain.

“He’s hurting really bad,” she said.

“He’s the ‘get up and walk it off’ type.”

She said that Mr Siler was “no stranger to the heat” and had moved to the area in 1988.

“I’m thinking, why is he walking outside? It’s so hot,” Ms Crook said.

“I’m mad that he tripped and fell and could get hurt… not realising the extent of everything.”

Ms Crook told the outlet that one time her father had dropped a cinderblock which weighed almost 40 kilograms on his foot and he didn’t take any pain medication.

“So for him to holler out in pain… it’s really hard to hear,” she said.

“That’s not the kind of person that he is.

“He doesn’t ever want anyone to fuss over him.”

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