It was a trip to the podiatrist that saved Peter Bedford's life.
Mr Bedford, 74, from the New South Wales Central Coast, had a fungal nail and decided to have it treated last October.
He had no idea the check-up on his feet would lead to major heart surgery.
"It was kind of like winning the medical lottery," he said.
A red flag
Mr Bedford sought treatment for his feet at the University of Newcastle's Podiatry Teaching Clinic at Wyong Hospital, where he saw trainee podiatrist Victoria Bennett.
"Peter had heard on the radio that we were using the Lunular laser at the uni to treat fungal nails and he came in to have a treatment for that," Ms Bennett said.
She ran a few tests that revealed a life-threatening situation.
Assessments for new patients involve checking the nerve sensations and pulses in the feet, as well as blood flow.
"I wasn't actually able to feel Peter's pulses in his feet with my hands at all and when we were using the doppler … every now and again we could find a little blip," Ms Bennett said.
But it was a crack on his foot that wasn't healing with antibiotics that raised a red flag and prompted more serious investigations, eventually revealing he was a ticking time bomb.
'A matter of months'
Mr Bedford was referred to his GP, who sent him to Maged William, director of cardiology at Central Coast Local Health Service.
"He [the GP] detected poor blood flow in his [Peter's] feet which suggested the presence of a vascular disease impacting on his legs," Dr William said.
So Mr Bedford underwent a screening test for his coronary arteries.
"What we call [his] coronary calcium score … came back incredibly high, suggesting that Peter had multiple fat blocks in his coronary arteries," Dr William said.
A cardio angiogram then revealed severe coronary artery disease.
"Two of his three coronary arteries were completely blocked, the third was 80 per cent blocked, which means if that third artery completely blocks as well, the chance of him surviving that event would be very small," Dr William said.
"When would it have happened? I think it would have been a matter of months."
Major heart surgery
Mr Bedford was told his only option was to have multi-vessel coronary artery bypass surgery.
"Dr William asked me what I was doing on Thursday, three days away," he said.
Mr Bedford underwent a six-hour operation and, according to Dr William, has recovered beautifully.
"His risk status now is extremely low compared to how it was before," he said.
Victoria Bennett, who has now finished her training and is a podiatrist in Canberra, was shocked when she heard about Mr Bedford's heart surgery.
"[It was] a bit of a spine-chilling moment when I found that out," she said.
Mr Bedford has thanked all those involved with helping to save his life, especially the podiatry clinic.
So what's ahead for Mr Bedford?
"Well hopefully another 20 plus years of healthy life," he said.
"I'm certainly a fan of podiatry these days."
