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Glenn Morris, 54, says he was left with a small cut on his toe following a pedicure — and the next day, his toe had “swollen up”
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He claims the injury caused a persistent bone infection that continued to spread, leading him to have three toes removed before he had his leg amputated
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Morris said he had been in extreme pain, which stopped completely after the amputation
A Maryland father of four booked a couples’ spa day as a way to reconnect with his wife, but a pedicure led to an infection so severe he had to have his leg amputated.
Glenn Morris, 54, spent $270 on a spa trip in 2017 to reconnect with his wife, Melissa. They indulged in side-by-side manicures and pedicures. During the treatment, they noticed Morris sustained a small cut on one of his left toes. Still, “we left feeling very refreshed,” he said, according to The Daily Mail.
The next day, Morris said his second toe had “swollen up” to the size of his big toe. He quickly sought medical treatment at a local hospital, and Morris told the outlet he was surprised to learn he had a bone infection that had already begun to spread.
As the Cleveland Clinic explains, osteomyelitis (bone infection) starts through a cut or surgical site on the skin and spreads through the bloodstream to cause “permanent bone damage.”
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Glenn Morris now has a prosthetic leg following his amputation.
Related: Indiana Mom of 2 Nearly Loses Her Leg from Hot Tub Rash While on Vacation: ‘I Couldn’t Walk’
The bone in his second toe was surgically removed stop the infection, he said, but instead it led to years of “extreme pain” as the infection continued to spread. His big toe was removed in 2018; a year later, his third toe was removed.
The swelling in his leg was so severe, he had to wear an orthopedic boot; ”Working was pretty hard because I needed to be up on my feet and I hadn’t been able to do that on my left side and I haven’t been able to walk long distances,” he told the outlet. “Grocery shopping has been a chore and I couldn’t go to football games because I couldn’t take the steps. It’s been hard.”
The infection continued to cause health struggles; Morris developed a blood infection in October 2024, and in December, he was brushing his teeth when his ankle snapped.
This past January, Morris underwent amputation of his left leg right below the knee, explaining that doctors told him “amputation would be the best way to come back with the best quality of life I was expected to have. Amputation was the best way to respond. Mentally, it was okay for me to go ahead.”
“Once I had the amputation, most of the pain stopped. I had been in an extreme amount of pain,” he said, calling the amputation “a massive relief.”
“I could start over and the quality of life I’m looking to have is within reach. I got a prosthetic leg and have been learning how to walk on it.”
Related: Hiker’s ‘Little Burn’ from Camping Skillet Leads to Double Amputation — but He Vows to Get Back on the Trail (Exclusive)
As for the spa where he had the pedicure, Morris said he never pursued legal action, as “it was more important for me to save my leg than to pay a lawyer to find them.”
Still, he believes “’It had to be from unsanitary utensils or ones that didn’t get cleaned properly. I couldn’t see it but once the incision cut me the infection went in.”
He shared that his podiatrist told him he often sees “people who are there because of an infection … He said it’s so common and that so many people come in with foot injuries from pedicures, whether they know at the time or not.”
Morris encourages people to see a podiatrist or other medical professional for foot care, and shares while he’s recovering from the amputation, “I look at my life now going forward advocating for other people in my situation so that they can have access to the activities I like to do like golf, swimming, fishing.”
“That one treatment has completely changed my life. I never thought [a pedicure] would cause what happened,” he said. “The price of looking good is not worth losing a leg.”
Podiatrists from the Cleveland Clinic advise that nail care tools are placed in a disinfecting solution for ten minutes, but using autoclaving — which is a heating method — is the preferred treatment for tools.
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