WARNING: This video above contains graphic content of the man’s medical condition. Viewer discretion is advised.

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — An Oklahoma marathon runner lost nearly all of his toes and was at risk of losing his entire foot until he got a second opinion.

Tom Parrott, an avid runner of nearly 50 years, first noticed the problem as a sore on his big toe. He thought it was just from running, but it never healed.

“That sore over a period of 30 days just opened up and became staph infected and down to the bone,” said Parrott.

Doctors decided to remove some of the toe, but that wasn’t the end of it. One by one, his toes became infected, and doctors continued to amputate them.

“Half of the large toe, the great toe is gone, and then the middle toe was straightened and it’s kind of not effective, it’s just there,” said Parrott.

Finally, a podiatrist suggested the issue may not be in his foot, but in his heart, so Parrott went to a CardioVascular Health Clinic location. A doctor there determined an artery blockage was to blame.

“He had a blockage in his thigh of 100 percent and also a blockage just below the knee of 100 percent,” said Dr. Jim Melton.

They were able to clear the arteries and restore blood flow in less than 72 hours.

“The key thing when you’re trying to salvage a limb is time, and the time factors involved with big hospital systems and stuff like that are usually counterproductive to saving limbs just because of the wait times and certain things like that,” Melton said.

The wound is now completely healed, and the blood flow is excellent.

“Very grateful because at that point, you don’t know what you might lose and could be a lot worse,” said Parrott. “You need to pursue all alternatives, get second opinions, and try to figure out why the wounds not healing.”

Melton said you may sometimes have to take it upon yourself to find or ask for a specialist.

“You need to be as aggressive as possible to and have all the advocates in your in your back pocket to try to save your limb,” said Dr. Melton.

While Parrott may not get back to running, he is on the road to recovery.

“I hope to be able to continue walking and increase my walking back up to, you know, two or three miles a day, and will play pickleball several times a week, so just being able to be active more than anything,” he said.