Eighty-year-old loses both legs after delayed PAD diagnosis

Nic Olsen, an 80-year-old former financial adviser from Tugby, Leicestershire, suffered chronic back and leg pain for years before doctors finally diagnosed peripheral arterial disease (PAD) after a Doppler scan revealed absent circulation in his lower limbs. Over four years he attended 29 appointments with various GPs, orthopaedic consultants and specialists, receiving spinal injections, cholesterol medication and advice to increase walking, but no vascular testing.

When a podiatrist finally ordered a Doppler in late 2024, the disease was already advanced, prompting an angioplasty and two bypass surgeries that proved ineffective. Consequently, his right leg was amputated below the knee in April 2025 and the left in July 2025. The NHS incurred costs exceeding £1 million for his care, while early detection could have cost around £1 000. Fiona Olsen, his wife and now full-time carer, is urging the public and clinicians to recognise PAD warning signs to prevent similar outcomes.