A UK man woke to discover that his dog had chewed his big toe to the bones, only to find later that his dog's action might have saved his life.

David Lindsay, 64 awoke from his sleep when he heard a bloodcurdling cry coming from his wife.

He then found that his bulldog Harley had chewed his big toe to the bones.

David told SWNS, "He did me a favour by biting my toe."

The Cambridge native said: "I fell asleep on the couch and my wife came in screaming, 'Dave! Your puppy is chewing your toe'."

He said he woke to find a bl**dy stump in the place of his big toe.

As it turned out, his 7-month-year-old puppy gnawed his toe so badly that he'd fractured it, and left a nail hanging off like a human chew toy.

Lindsay's spouse quickly bandaged her husband's toe before taking him to the hospital. There, he discovered that the infection was caused by the bite.

The doctors had to administer intravenous antibiotics for nine days to prevent the infection from spreading to his bones.

Despite the grueling ordeal, the bite turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it led to a shocking diagnosis.

“Because of all this, I discovered that my foot is completely numb, I can’t feel anything,” said the patient, who suffers from diabetes.

Subsequent CT scans revealed that the Brit had suffered two blocked arteries, putting him in danger of requiring a leg amputation due to the lack of blood flow to the region.

Thanks to the dog, Lindsay is currently being assessed for stents, which would open up the arteries and restore circulation to his limbs.

In other words, losing a toe paradoxically might have prevented him from losing a leg.

Lindsay has since learned to see the funny side of the situation.

“You’ve got to laugh about it,” Lindsay, who has no plans to give away the dog, said.

“I’m waiting to find out if they can put stents in,” Lindsay said. “I’ll be keeping the dog.”

He added, “I’ll try to keep my toe, too, but if not, I told the doctor to cut it off, and I can take it home for him!”

It’s unlikely that Harley actually sensed his owner was in peril, however, canines have displayed an uncanny potential to detect disease.

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