Meghan Markle’s estranged father had part of his left leg amputated in a “case of life or death” after he was rushed to a hospital in the Philippines on Wednesday.
Thomas Markle, 81, underwent life-saving three-hour surgery at a Cebu hospital when his leg turned blue, then black as a blood clot cut off circulation to his foot, his son Thomas Markle Jr. told the Daily Mail.
“My dad is being very brave. His foot turned blue and then black. It happened very quickly. I took him to a local hospital and they did some scans and an ultrasound and said the leg had to be amputated,” Markle Jr. said.
Doctors allegedly said that Markle Sr. would have died if they hadn’t amputated the limb below the knee, but the first surgery may not have been enough.
“There was no option. I was told the leg had to be removed and it was a case of life or death,” his son said.
Markle is in stable condition in the intensive care unit but may need more surgeries after a period of observation to see if he contracts any infections.
“One of his doctors said the next two or three days are critical. His left leg has been removed below the knee. They were worried about infection setting in – sepsis or gangrene. The flesh was black and dying,” Markle Jr. said.
Thomas Jr., who serves as his father’s primary caretaker, saw the condition of his father’s foot and he rushed him to a local hospital in the city of Cebu where he underwent tests and doctors decided to send him to a large hospital in the area.
Markle had lived in Rosarito, Mexico, before moving to the other side of the worldin January for a more “peaceful” environment to escape the “awful drama of recent years.”
The Duchess of Sussex has been estranged from her father since she married Prince Harry in 2018, when he suffered two heart attacks that prevented him from traveling from Los Angeles to London to walk his daughter down the aisle.
The elder Markle raised his daughter by himself between the ages of 11 and 18.
He has not met the royal son or his two grandchildren, Archie, 6, and Lilibet, 4.
Meghan Markle has not commented on her father’s health issues.
Thomas Markle’s other daughter, Samantha, was praying her father would overcome the latest health battle.
“He is a strong man, but he has been through so much,” she told the Daily Mail Wednesday. “I am praying that he is strong enough to survive this.”
“My father has been through two heart attacks, a stroke and an earthquake,” she added. “I hope he can pull through this.”
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