By . Rosie Taylor . PUBLISHED: . 19:42 EST, 16 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 06:10 EST, 19 August 2013 . Antiques Roadshow veteran David Battie has revealed he nearly lost his . leg after breaking it in a fall and contracting a severe infection in . the injury. The 70-year-old spent nearly seven months in hospital being treated with antibiotics and undergoing nine operations - none of which managed to shift the bacteria. After treatment failed, doctors threatened to amputate his leg but he begged them to find an alternative. David Battie (far left) revealed that he nearly lost his leg when it became infected following a fall. He has been a regular host on the Antiques Road Show for 36 years. They decided to carry out plastic surgery to cut infected flesh and bone from his right ankle and fill the space with a ‘steak’ taken from his left thigh. Now finally back on his feet, Mr Battie will make his first appearance on the Roadshow in over a year this Sunday – and has revealed he made history as the first person to appear on the programme barefoot. ‘I’m much happier without shoes and socks on,’ he said. ‘The infection is gone now but I’m still getting quite a bit of pain, sometimes a lot of pain. I try to keep (my leg) up as much as possible.’ Mr Battie, who has been a regular feature on the show for 36 years, shattered the bones in his lower leg when he slipped on wet grass in April last year. Surgeons drilled into his leg to fit a metal ‘scaffold’ to hold the broken bones in place. But within days bacteria had got in through one of the drill holes and caused an infection. Mr Battie said he had considered leaving the popular BBC programme but that he is excited to return for another series. Mr Battie was told by a nurse to go to A&E at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, where a registrar he described as ‘completely idiotic’ told him the weeping from his wound meant it was ‘getting better’ and sent him home. He returned twice in the following week only to be sent home each time - and was only admitted on his fourth visit. He said: ‘I’m not a medical expert, but if they had seen it earlier perhaps I would have been OK.’ Describing the months of treatment he had in hospital, he said: ‘They were pumping me full of antibiotics. ‘In the end they tried to inject it every two hours day and night for a month. That was awful. I was dog tired all the time.’ At the end of November he was taken to the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead where surgeons performed the operation which saved his leg, although he still has to take ‘handfuls of pills’ to keep the infection at bay. Amazing, Mr Battie can now drive and walk again, although he feels tired most of the time because he sleeps badly due to the pain in both legs. He said he was ‘amazed’ he had ended up which so many complications from a slip ‘where most people would just fall down and go “Ow”.’ ‘It was so silly,’ he added, ‘I had just got out of the car to stretch my legs and slipped on a patch of wet grass.’ He said he had considered quitting the Antiques Roadshow but is thrilled to be back – although he is limiting his involvement to filming locations near his Sussex home. ‘I was worried all the morphine had aged me and affected my memory, but it doesn’t seem to be a problem,’ he said. Mr Battie has written to the Royal Sussex County Hospital with ‘suggestions’ for how it could improve, but said he had not heard anything save for one phone call from ‘a woman in the complaints department who clearly didn’t want to talk to me.’The first episode of the new series of the Antiques Roadshow is on BBC1 at 8pm on Sunday.
70 year-old told of how doctors wanted to amputate leg after it became severely infected .
Mr Battie said he was 'amazed' a simple fall could cause such complication .
He  will make his first appearance on Antiques Road Show in over a year this Sunday .
By . Rosie Taylor . PUBLISHED: . 19:42 EST, 16 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 06:10 EST, 19 August 2013 . Antiques Roadshow veteran David Battie has revealed he nearly lost his . leg after breaking it in a fall and contracting a severe infection in . the injury. The 70-year-old spent nearly seven months in hospital being treated with antibiotics and undergoing nine operations - none of which managed to shift the bacteria. After treatment failed, doctors threatened to amputate his leg but he begged them to find an alternative. David Battie (far left) revealed that he nearly lost his leg when it became infected following a fall. He has been a regular host on the Antiques Road Show for 36 years. They decided to carry out plastic surgery to cut infected flesh and bone from his right ankle and fill the space with a ‘steak’ taken from his left thigh. Now finally back on his feet, Mr Battie will make his first appearance on the Roadshow in over a year this Sunday – and has revealed he made history as the first person to appear on the programme barefoot. ‘I’m much happier without shoes and socks on,’ he said. ‘The infection is gone now but I’m still getting quite a bit of pain, sometimes a lot of pain. I try to keep (my leg) up as much as possible.’ Mr Battie, who has been a regular feature on the show for 36 years, shattered the bones in his lower leg when he slipped on wet grass in April last year. Surgeons drilled into his leg to fit a metal ‘scaffold’ to hold the broken bones in place. But within days bacteria had got in through one of the drill holes and caused an infection. Mr Battie said he had considered leaving the popular BBC programme but that he is excited to return for another series. Mr Battie was told by a nurse to go to A&E at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, where a registrar he described as ‘completely idiotic’ told him the weeping from his wound meant it was ‘getting better’ and sent him home. He returned twice in the following week only to be sent home each time - and was only admitted on his fourth visit. He said: ‘I’m not a medical expert, but if they had seen it earlier perhaps I would have been OK.’ Describing the months of treatment he had in hospital, he said: ‘They were pumping me full of antibiotics. ‘In the end they tried to inject it every two hours day and night for a month. That was awful. I was dog tired all the time.’ At the end of November he was taken to the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead where surgeons performed the operation which saved his leg, although he still has to take ‘handfuls of pills’ to keep the infection at bay. Amazing, Mr Battie can now drive and walk again, although he feels tired most of the time because he sleeps badly due to the pain in both legs. He said he was ‘amazed’ he had ended up which so many complications from a slip ‘where most people would just fall down and go “Ow”.’ ‘It was so silly,’ he added, ‘I had just got out of the car to stretch my legs and slipped on a patch of wet grass.’ He said he had considered quitting the Antiques Roadshow but is thrilled to be back – although he is limiting his involvement to filming locations near his Sussex home. ‘I was worried all the morphine had aged me and affected my memory, but it doesn’t seem to be a problem,’ he said. Mr Battie has written to the Royal Sussex County Hospital with ‘suggestions’ for how it could improve, but said he had not heard anything save for one phone call from ‘a woman in the complaints department who clearly didn’t want to talk to me.’The first episode of the new series of the Antiques Roadshow is on BBC1 at 8pm on Sunday.
treatment failed, doctors threatened to amputate host on the Antiques Road Show for 36 years. They will make his first appearance on the Roadshow in over a year this Sunday – and has revealed he holes and caused an infection. Mr Battie said he the pain in both legs. He said he was ‘amazed’ he