A pensioner had her leg amputated after a tiny cat scratch left her with a horrifying flesh-eating infection.

Fran Oborski, 79, was petting a stray ginger cat, nicknamed Jaffa, when it nicked her leg with its claw.

She covered the 3cm (1in) scrape with antiseptic cream and put a plaster over it and thought nothing more about it.

But weeks later her leg started to ache and when she went to her GP she was told she had contracted cellulitis – a flesh eating bacterial infection.

Her entire left leg below her knee was covered in painful ulcers and she underwent months of gruelling hospital treatments.

After two years of almost constant pain, Fran, who sits on Wyre Forest District Council, opted to have her limb amputated.

Despite losing her leg, kind-hearted Fran still looks after Jaffa who now lives with her and her other four cats.

Fran, from Kidderminster, Worcs., said: "I was feeding Jaffa when he just slashed my leg."

"My own cats are fairly clean but I don't know where Jaffa's been. "

"I remember rubbing Sudocrem antiseptic cream over the wound and putting a plaster over the top of it and I just ignored it."

"He didn't deliberately set out to maim me. "

"I've been feeding him for three or four years, but it was a fairly deep cat scratch. I didn't realise it would cause that much of a reaction. "

"The wound just wouldn't heal and my leg was in a lot of pain."

"I suffered with cellulitis for a couple of weeks before I realised."

In September 2022 she had her bandages replaced with adhesive dressings which made her condition worse.

She added: "What neither the nurse of I realised was that I was allergic to the "
dressings and my whole leg erupted into a mass of ulcers.

"I had lots more hospital visits to change the dressings until a consultant eventually said I'd probably lose the leg within two years. "

"I said to him, 'In that case, take it off now.'"

"I made the decision quickly because I was sick and tired of having to go to the doctor's almost every day."

"If I was going to lose the leg anyway, I might as well lose it now."

Fran, who is not married and has no children, went under the knife on October 24 this year and is due to be fitted with a false leg next week.

She said: "I'm recovering quite quickly. "

"Most people are still in bed after such an operation but I'm out still driving the car. It's an automatic, you don't need your left leg."

"I think it was the right decision. I've learnt to use the stair rider and have removed the bedroom and toilet door. "

"Sitting here right now I can feel the toes on my limb that isn't here, I feel that my leg is sat on the desk here."

Fran is now urging other pet owners to seek medical attention quickly if they are scratched or bitten by stray animals.

She warned: "If you have an infected animal scratch, treat it with caution. "

"I've lost my leg as a result. If it's your own pet and you know they're fairly clean, that's one thing. "

"But if he's a stray and he's a scruffy beggar be very wary."

Despite her ordeal, Fran still feeds Jaffa and lets him sleep in her conservatory.