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* Attempted in the second ''Film/CabinFever'' movie, wherein a character gets blood infected with necrotizing fasciitis on his hand and cuts it off using the chop saw in his school's shop class. ultimately, it doesn't work.
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* In ''Series/{{Vikings}}'', after being struck with an arrow in his arm, [[spoiler: Torstein]] asks to amputate it because the infection is killing him. [[spoiler: He doesn't survive long after that anyway]].
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* Attempted in ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'''s second season premier when an alien artifact causes an agent's hand, then arm, to slowly start turning to stone. She demands that her arm be amputated in the hopes of stopping the spread, but she is killed a minute or so later anyway. [[spoiler: The season finale has ''Coulson'' be similarly effected; his arm is almost immediately hacked off to stop the spread, and he does indeed survive]].
to:
* Attempted in ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'''s second season premier when an alien artifact causes an agent's hand, then arm, to slowly start turning to stone. She demands that her arm be amputated in the hopes of stopping the spread, but she is killed by something else a minute or so later anyway. [[spoiler: The season finale has ''Coulson'' be similarly effected; his arm is almost immediately hacked off to stop the spread, and he does indeed survive]].
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* Attempted in ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'''s second season premier when an alien artifact causes an agent's hand, then arm, to slowly start turning to stone. She demands that her arm be amputated in the hopes of stopping the spread, but she is killed a minute or so later anyway. [[spoiler: The season finale has ''Coulson'' be similarly effected; his arm is almost immediately hacked off to stop the spread, and he does indeed survive]].
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* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' Dimo gets stung on the arm by some glowing blob thing and Oggie rips the arm off. The non-[[SuperSoldier Jaegers]] in the group think he's overreacting, until the severed limb melts.
to:
* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' Dimo gets stung on the arm by some glowing blob thing and Oggie rips slices the arm off. The non-[[SuperSoldier Jaegers]] in the group think he's overreacting, until the severed limb melts.
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She is infected with the Redlight virus, the Blacklight virus was created by Alex
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* General Randall in ''Videogame/{{Prototype}}'' hacked off his own arm with a cleaver after being bitten by Elizabeth Greene, fearing that she might have infected him with the Blacklight Virus.
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* General Randall in ''Videogame/{{Prototype}}'' hacked off his own arm with a cleaver after being bitten by Elizabeth Greene, fearing that she might have infected him with the Blacklight Redlight Virus.
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* Subverted in the 1988 remake of ''Film/TheBlob''. The homeless man suddenly shows up wielding an axe, but it turns out that he's trying to hack his lower arm off because the micro-blob that fell from space has started consuming it. Before he can finish, the blob clutches to the limb's remainder to continue eating him.
to:
* Subverted in the 1988 remake of ''Film/TheBlob''.''Film/TheBlob1988''. The homeless man suddenly shows up wielding an axe, but it turns out that he's trying to hack his lower arm off because the micro-blob that fell from space has started consuming it. Before he can finish, the blob clutches to the limb's remainder to continue eating him.
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->'''Oggie:''' Um... Dis '''vos''' the right von, yah?
to:
->'''Oggie:''' Um... Dis '''vos''' the de right von, yah?
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->'''Oggie:''' Yop. Dot vas ot.
to:
->'''Oggie:''' Yop. Dot vas ot.it.
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** Hilariously, after dispatching the zombie and sawing off his arm, he breathes a sigh of relief, only for another zombie to leap up out of the snow and [[GroinAttack bite him down there]]. Infuriated, he delivers a SkywardScream, beats the zombie to death, and then cries as he looks down at his ruined manhood, before turning to look at the chainsaw...
to:
** Hilariously, after dispatching the zombie and sawing off his arm, he breathes a sigh of relief, only for another zombie to leap up out of the snow and [[GroinAttack bite him down there]]. Infuriated, Now absolutely infuriated, he delivers a SkywardScream, [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beats the zombie to death, death]], and then cries sobs as he looks down at his ruined manhood, before turning to look at the chainsaw...
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** Hilariously, after dispatching the zombie and sawing off his arm, he breathes a sigh of relief, only for another zombie to leap up out of the snow and [[GroinAttack bite him down there]]. Infuriated, he delivers a SkywardScream, beats the zombie to death, and then cries as he looks down at his ruined manhood, before turning to look at the chainsaw...
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* ''Film/PansLabyrinth'': A wounded Spanish rebel is forced to have his gangrenous leg amputated. He insists on a moment to psych himself up before biting the bullet and letting them start cutting.
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** Subverted in a cruelly ironic way later in the novel. Chuck Danton has the misfortune of getting absorbed headfirst. His companions pull him free, and his head comes off, halting the absorption at the neck and leaving the rest of his body intact, but for obvious reasons he still dies. But, hey, it ''did'' stop the spread of the Clone flesh! There's a body to have a funeral with, at least.
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* In ''Literature/TheClone'', when a guy accidentally touches the eponymous creature (which immediately starts [[BodyHorror converting his still-living flesh into its own flesh]]), the protagonists try to stop it by applying iodine (which the Clone is repulsed by) to his arm. What they don't realize is that the Clone then works its way around iodine on the surface, to eat its way through the inside of the arm. When they discover that, they have no choice but to amputate the whole arm before it reaches the torso.
** Another character isn't as lucky, since the clone gets ahead of where they cut and absorbs him quicker than they can amputate.
** Another character isn't as lucky, since the clone gets ahead of where they cut and absorbs him quicker than they can amputate.
to:
* In ''Literature/TheClone'', when a guy Dr. Agnew accidentally touches the eponymous creature (which immediately starts [[BodyHorror converting his still-living flesh into its own flesh]]), the protagonists try to stop Harry stops it by applying cutting his arm off at the elbow. This successfully saves him.
** An intern isn't as lucky. When he gets it on him, they apply iodine (which the Clone is repulsed by) to his arm. What they don't realize is that the Clone then works its way around iodine on the surface, to eat its way through the inside of thearm. When they discover that, they have no choice but to amputate the whole arm before it reaches the torso.
** Another character isn't as lucky, since the clone gets ahead of where they cutand absorbs him quicker than they can amputate.from the inside out. Harry chops his arm off anyway, but it's too late by this point.
** An intern isn't as lucky. When he gets it on him, they apply iodine (which the Clone is repulsed by) to his arm. What they don't realize is that the Clone then works its way around iodine on the surface, to eat its way through the inside of the
** Another character isn't as lucky, since the clone gets ahead of where they cut
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* ''Film/NineLives'', also Norwegian, war hero Jan Baalsrud has to amputate his own toes to stop gangrene to spread through his feet. By the way, he did it all by himself! ''In RealLife''!
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* General Randall in ''Videogame/{{Prototype}}'' hacked off his own arm with a cleaver after being bitten by Elizabeth Greene, fearing that she might have infected him with the Blacklight Virus.
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** Season Two Episode Three introduces Reggie, whose missing arm proves that someone can be saved from a zombie bite if the amputation happens quickly enough. [[spoiler:At the end of the episode, Clem can opt to do this to Sarita, who gets bitten on the wrist during the escape from Carver's compound.]]
to:
** Season Two Episode Three introduces Reggie, whose missing arm proves that someone can be saved from a zombie bite if the amputation happens quickly enough. [[spoiler:At the end of the episode, Clem can opt to do this to Sarita, who gets bitten on the wrist during the escape from Carver's compound. Subverted at the start of Episode 4, when she gets mauled by walkers anyway.]]
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* In ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'', after [[spoiler: Lee]] is bitten he can try this to stop the infection. [[spoiler: It doesn't work; even if you cut his arm off Lee will still die at the end of Episode 5.]]
to:
* In ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'', ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'',
** In Season One Episode Five, after [[spoiler: Lee]] is bitten he can try this to stop the infection. [[spoiler: It doesn't work; even if you cut his arm off Lee will still die at theend of end.]]
** Season Two Episode5.Three introduces Reggie, whose missing arm proves that someone can be saved from a zombie bite if the amputation happens quickly enough. [[spoiler:At the end of the episode, Clem can opt to do this to Sarita, who gets bitten on the wrist during the escape from Carver's compound.]]
** In Season One Episode Five, after [[spoiler: Lee]] is bitten he can try this to stop the infection. [[spoiler: It doesn't work; even if you cut his arm off Lee will still die at the
** Season Two Episode
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* In ''Film/{{District 9}}'' [[spoiler:Wikus]] attempts to chop his arm off in the hope that it will stop the metamorphosis into a Prawn from spreading, but he only manages to get a finger off and stops due to the pain.
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* Tamora Pierce's ''[[Literature/TortallUniverse Wolf-Speaker]]'' has the mage Gissa, who cuts her own hand off after it gets hit by a drop of the Bloodrain poison potion she was stirring. If she had left it long enough for it to reach her bloodstream it would have rotted her from the inside out; once it reached full strength they were planning on pouring it into the ''river'', killing every living thing within ten miles.
to:
* Tamora Pierce's ''[[Literature/TortallUniverse Wolf-Speaker]]'' The second book in the Creator/TamoraPierce series ''Literature/TheImmortals'' has the mage Gissa, who cuts her own hand off after it gets hit by a drop of the Bloodrain poison potion she was stirring. If she had left it long enough for it to reach her bloodstream it would have rotted her from the inside out; once it reached full strength they were planning on pouring it into the ''river'', killing every living thing within ten miles.
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* In the story "To kill a werewolf" published in [[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel]]'s ''Vampire Tales'' #1, a werewolf bites the protagonist's arm, which quickly transforms into a canine paw. The doctors amputate it before it can spread to the rest of his body. [[spoiler:It seems to have worked, but many years later he transforms into a werewolf completely anyway.]]
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-> ''Lars: "You cut [Dimo's] arm off!"''
-> ''Oggie: "Um... Dis '''vos''' the right von, yah?"''
-> ''Lars: "It's '''melting'''!"''
-> ''Oggie: "Yop. Dot vas ot."''
--> ''[[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20060719 Girl Genius]]'' [[note]]Not recommended for people who aren't [[MadeOfIron super-tough]] abominations of science[[/note]]
-> ''Oggie: "Um... Dis '''vos''' the right von, yah?"''
-> ''Lars: "It's '''melting'''!"''
-> ''Oggie: "Yop. Dot vas ot."''
--> ''[[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20060719 Girl Genius]]'' [[note]]Not recommended for people who aren't [[MadeOfIron super-tough]] abominations of science[[/note]]
to:
-> ''Oggie: "Um...
->'''Oggie:''' Um... Dis '''vos''' the right von,
-> ''Lars: "It's '''melting'''!"''
-> ''Oggie: "Yop.
->'''Lars:''' It's '''melting'''!
->'''Oggie:''' Yop. Dot vas
-->
-->-- ''[[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20060719 Girl Genius]]'' [[note]]Not recommended for people who aren't [[MadeOfIron super-tough]] abominations of science[[/note]]
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* In {{Comicbook/Hitman}}, [[DumbMuscle Hacken]] is bitten by a re-animated seal and assumes it will turn him into a Zombie so he cuts off his hand with a chainsaw. The scientist later tells him that [[WhatAnIdiot the current formula only works on marine life, and you have to be dead and directly exposed to it to become a zombie.]]
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Sometimes when [[SuckOutThePoison sucking out the poison]] isn't enough, someone simply cuts off the limb in question, above the problem. Naturally, this is not recommended in real life as blood flows faster than an arm or leg can be cut off, and amputation is dangerous enough as is. Though amputations to prevent infections are an old and largely outdated medical practice.
to:
Sometimes when [[SuckOutThePoison sucking out the poison]] isn't enough, someone simply cuts off the limb in question, above the problem. Naturally, this is not recommended in real life as blood flows faster than an arm or leg can be cut off, and amputation is dangerous enough as is. Though amputations is, and amputation to prevent infections are an old and largely outdated medical practice.
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* In ''VideoGame/RobinsonsRequiem'', if one of your limbs suffers from gangrene due to not treating an infection, the only way to avoid an agonizing death from poisoning will be cutting the gangrenated limb.
to:
* In ''VideoGame/RobinsonsRequiem'', if one of your limbs suffers from gangrene due to not treating an infection, the only way to avoid an agonizing death from poisoning will be cutting is to cutt off the gangrenated rotten limb.
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* In ''VideoGame/LollipopChainsaw'', zombies attack Nick, Juliet's boyfriend, at the end of the first level. To stop the infection, she resorts to ''extreme'' amputation: she cuts off everything below the neck and uses magic to keep his head animate.
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* In ''VideoGame/StarcraftIIWingsOfLiberty'' General Warfield takes several hydralisk spines to the arm, if you talk to him afterwards he complains that the medics are having trouble stopping the poison from spreading but won't let him just cut the damn thing off. In the next cutscene he is shown with a large prosthetic arm that features a cannon.
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Sometimes when [[SuckOutThePoison sucking out the poison]] isn't enough, someone simply cuts off the limb in question, above the problem. Naturally, this is not recommended in real life as blood flows faster than an arm or leg can be cut off, and amputation is dangerous enough as is. Though amputations to prevent infections are an old medical practice.
to:
-> ''Lars: "You cut [Dimo's] arm off!"''
-> ''Oggie: "Um... Dis '''vos''' the right von, yah?"''
-> ''Lars: "It's '''melting'''!"''
-> ''Oggie: "Yop. Dot vas ot."''
--> ''[[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20060719 Girl Genius]]'' [[note]]Not recommended for people who aren't [[MadeOfIron super-tough]] abominations of science[[/note]]
Sometimes when [[SuckOutThePoison sucking out the poison]] isn't enough, someone simply cuts off the limb in question, above the problem. Naturally, this is not recommended in real life as blood flows faster than an arm or leg can be cut off, and amputation is dangerous enough as is. Though amputations to prevent infections are an old and largely outdated medical practice.
-> ''Oggie: "Um... Dis '''vos''' the right von, yah?"''
-> ''Lars: "It's '''melting'''!"''
-> ''Oggie: "Yop. Dot vas ot."''
--> ''[[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20060719 Girl Genius]]'' [[note]]Not recommended for people who aren't [[MadeOfIron super-tough]] abominations of science[[/note]]
Sometimes when [[SuckOutThePoison sucking out the poison]] isn't enough, someone simply cuts off the limb in question, above the problem. Naturally, this is not recommended in real life as blood flows faster than an arm or leg can be cut off, and amputation is dangerous enough as is. Though amputations to prevent infections are an old and largely outdated medical practice.
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None
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to:
* In ''VideoGame/RobinsonsRequiem'', if one of your limbs suffers from gangrene due to not treating an infection, the only way to avoid an agonizing death from poisoning will be cutting the gangrenated limb.
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** And later Martellus cut his hand off and replaced it with a prosthetic after being hit with a poisoned knife.
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* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "The Seeds of Doom", after Winlett is infected by the Kyrnoid, the team plans to amputate his arm to stop the infection. However, the Kyrnoid takes him over and he escapes before they can do so.
to:
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "The Seeds of Doom", after Winlett is infected by the Kyrnoid, the team plans to amputate his arm to stop in the infection.hope that it would maybe slow the infection while they think of something else to try. However, the Kyrnoid takes him over and he escapes before they can do so.
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** Another character isn't as lucky, since the clone gets ahead of where they cut and absorbs him quicker than they can amputate.
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None
Added DiffLines:
Sometimes when [[SuckOutThePoison sucking out the poison]] isn't enough, someone simply cuts off the limb in question, above the problem. Naturally, this is not recommended in real life as blood flows faster than an arm or leg can be cut off, and amputation is dangerous enough as is. Though amputations to prevent infections are an old medical practice.
Subtrope of LifeOrLimbDecision.
----
!!Examples
[[AC:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' anime episode #275. Barragan uses his Respira attack against Captain Soifon, causing her arm to disintegrate starting at the fingertips. She orders her lieutenant Omaeda to cut off her arm before the decay reaches her body, and he does so.
* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Sasuke envelops himself in a wall of inextinguishable Amaterasu flames, but the Fourth Raikage attacks right through it with his left arm. To stop the fire from spreading through the rest of his body, he cuts it with his right arm.
[[AC: ComicBook]]
* ''The Thing From Another World: Climate of Fear'', a sequel series to Film/TheThing1982, [[spoiler: Agapito]] cuts off his arm with a machete to keep himself from being infected.
[[AC:Film]]
* In ''Film/{{Evolution}}'', Dr Block finds himself host to an alien fly that is burrowing into his leg. He refuses to let doctors cut off the leg in question until he learns that it's headed for his testicles. [[spoiler:Ultimately, they pull it out of his rectum instead.]]
* Averted in ''Film/{{Creepshow}}'', when Jordy opts not to go for medical help because he's afraid the doctor will amputate his "meteor shit"-infected fingers without anesthetic.
* In Norwegian zombie movie ''Film/DeadSnow'', one of the characters lops his own arm off after being bitten by a zombie on said arm.
* When Segen gets infected during the Jerusalem sequence in ''Film/WorldWarZ'', Gerry cuts off the infected limb and applies first aid as quickly as he can.
* Subverted in the 1988 remake of ''Film/TheBlob''. The homeless man suddenly shows up wielding an axe, but it turns out that he's trying to hack his lower arm off because the micro-blob that fell from space has started consuming it. Before he can finish, the blob clutches to the limb's remainder to continue eating him.
[[AC:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/TheClone'', when a guy accidentally touches the eponymous creature (which immediately starts [[BodyHorror converting his still-living flesh into its own flesh]]), the protagonists try to stop it by applying iodine (which the Clone is repulsed by) to his arm. What they don't realize is that the Clone then works its way around iodine on the surface, to eat its way through the inside of the arm. When they discover that, they have no choice but to amputate the whole arm before it reaches the torso.
* In ''Literature/{{Remnants}}'' two of the characters have to have appendages amputated to remove worms that are slowly eating them. One of them is a {{redshirt}}, who bleeds out after his leg is removed. The other is a main character, who only loses a finger.
* Discussed in ''[[Literature/{{Chalion}} Curse of Chalion]]'' by Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold. The royse Bergon was wounded in the thigh by a leopard's claws, and the wound turned septic when he left it untreated, before it was discovered.
-->"His [Bergon's] rising hysteria [about the amputation] was only calmed when a second physician opined that the infection was not gangrene after all--Cazaril's nose agreed--but rather, blood poisoning, and that amputation would do more harm than good now."
* ''Literature/TheGunsOfNavarone''. One of Major Franklin's legs is broken during the climb up the cliffs and gangrene later sets in. The team leaves him with the Germans and the leg is amputated to prevent the gangrene from spreading to the rest of his body and killing him.
* Tamora Pierce's ''[[Literature/TortallUniverse Wolf-Speaker]]'' has the mage Gissa, who cuts her own hand off after it gets hit by a drop of the Bloodrain poison potion she was stirring. If she had left it long enough for it to reach her bloodstream it would have rotted her from the inside out; once it reached full strength they were planning on pouring it into the ''river'', killing every living thing within ten miles.
[[AC:Live Action TV]]
* In an episode of ''Series/RedDwarf'' where Lister is infected with a sentient virus they try to isolate it in one arm and cut that arm off. Lister spends the next episode trying to cope with one arm, and when that fails get a new one.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "The Seeds of Doom", after Winlett is infected by the Kyrnoid, the team plans to amputate his arm to stop the infection. However, the Kyrnoid takes him over and he escapes before they can do so.
* In ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' episode "Seed", they attempt this with [[spoiler: Hershel after he is bitten. It works.]]
* ''Series/TheXFiles'': Amputation is used as a preventative in a small Russian town near an industrial complex where the Purity (aka Black Oil) alien virus is being experimented with. They only want to use completely healthy individuals so if the locals cut off an arm it won't attach to them. They almost cut off Mulder's arm before he escapes, but Krycek isn't so lucky.
* In the series finale of ''Series/{{Copper}}'', which features Morehouse, Corcoran and Freeman out in the Southern wilderness hunting John Wilkes Boothe, Morehouse's [[ArtificialLimbs prosthetic leg]] begins to chafe on his stump, and it eventually becomes infected. For a while, Morehouse attempts to simply ignore it, but after a while the pain from the infection is so great he can barely walk, remarking that his leg "hurts worse than the day [he] lost it." Freeman, a doctor, eventually has to remove the lower part of his stump to stop the gangrene from spreading.
[[AC:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'', after [[spoiler: Lee]] is bitten he can try this to stop the infection. [[spoiler: It doesn't work; even if you cut his arm off Lee will still die at the end of Episode 5.]]
[[AC:Web Comics]]
* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' Dimo gets stung on the arm by some glowing blob thing and Oggie rips the arm off. The non-[[SuperSoldier Jaegers]] in the group think he's overreacting, until the severed limb melts.
* "Biscuit" in ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'' gets infected with a flesh-rotting curse after standing on a severed finger ripped off the body of an EldritchAbomination. He opts to cut the infected leg off with an axe.
[[AC: Western Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/UglyAmericans'' a batboy gets loose in Mark's counseling group and bites Mark and the Two-Headed Worm Guy. After killing it Grimes draws a machete and slices off Worm Guy's bitten hand (which regenerates). Mark (who got bitten on the crotch) pretends that it didn't get him and slowly transforms over the rest of the episode, until it turns out that Doug the Koala Man's saliva acts as an antidote.
[[AC:RealLife]]
* This used to be the only method of stopping gangrene from spreading. Nowadays, the rotting area can often be saved, but amputation is still sometimes required.
* The Manhattan Project had a policy to cover contamination with plutonium. Anyone who had plutonium enter their body through a cut or a scratch on a limb would be subjected to immediate high amputation to keep it from entering the rest of their body. Creator/RobertAHeinlein mentioned this policy in his short story "The Long Watch".
Subtrope of LifeOrLimbDecision.
----
!!Examples
[[AC:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' anime episode #275. Barragan uses his Respira attack against Captain Soifon, causing her arm to disintegrate starting at the fingertips. She orders her lieutenant Omaeda to cut off her arm before the decay reaches her body, and he does so.
* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Sasuke envelops himself in a wall of inextinguishable Amaterasu flames, but the Fourth Raikage attacks right through it with his left arm. To stop the fire from spreading through the rest of his body, he cuts it with his right arm.
[[AC: ComicBook]]
* ''The Thing From Another World: Climate of Fear'', a sequel series to Film/TheThing1982, [[spoiler: Agapito]] cuts off his arm with a machete to keep himself from being infected.
[[AC:Film]]
* In ''Film/{{Evolution}}'', Dr Block finds himself host to an alien fly that is burrowing into his leg. He refuses to let doctors cut off the leg in question until he learns that it's headed for his testicles. [[spoiler:Ultimately, they pull it out of his rectum instead.]]
* Averted in ''Film/{{Creepshow}}'', when Jordy opts not to go for medical help because he's afraid the doctor will amputate his "meteor shit"-infected fingers without anesthetic.
* In Norwegian zombie movie ''Film/DeadSnow'', one of the characters lops his own arm off after being bitten by a zombie on said arm.
* When Segen gets infected during the Jerusalem sequence in ''Film/WorldWarZ'', Gerry cuts off the infected limb and applies first aid as quickly as he can.
* Subverted in the 1988 remake of ''Film/TheBlob''. The homeless man suddenly shows up wielding an axe, but it turns out that he's trying to hack his lower arm off because the micro-blob that fell from space has started consuming it. Before he can finish, the blob clutches to the limb's remainder to continue eating him.
[[AC:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/TheClone'', when a guy accidentally touches the eponymous creature (which immediately starts [[BodyHorror converting his still-living flesh into its own flesh]]), the protagonists try to stop it by applying iodine (which the Clone is repulsed by) to his arm. What they don't realize is that the Clone then works its way around iodine on the surface, to eat its way through the inside of the arm. When they discover that, they have no choice but to amputate the whole arm before it reaches the torso.
* In ''Literature/{{Remnants}}'' two of the characters have to have appendages amputated to remove worms that are slowly eating them. One of them is a {{redshirt}}, who bleeds out after his leg is removed. The other is a main character, who only loses a finger.
* Discussed in ''[[Literature/{{Chalion}} Curse of Chalion]]'' by Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold. The royse Bergon was wounded in the thigh by a leopard's claws, and the wound turned septic when he left it untreated, before it was discovered.
-->"His [Bergon's] rising hysteria [about the amputation] was only calmed when a second physician opined that the infection was not gangrene after all--Cazaril's nose agreed--but rather, blood poisoning, and that amputation would do more harm than good now."
* ''Literature/TheGunsOfNavarone''. One of Major Franklin's legs is broken during the climb up the cliffs and gangrene later sets in. The team leaves him with the Germans and the leg is amputated to prevent the gangrene from spreading to the rest of his body and killing him.
* Tamora Pierce's ''[[Literature/TortallUniverse Wolf-Speaker]]'' has the mage Gissa, who cuts her own hand off after it gets hit by a drop of the Bloodrain poison potion she was stirring. If she had left it long enough for it to reach her bloodstream it would have rotted her from the inside out; once it reached full strength they were planning on pouring it into the ''river'', killing every living thing within ten miles.
[[AC:Live Action TV]]
* In an episode of ''Series/RedDwarf'' where Lister is infected with a sentient virus they try to isolate it in one arm and cut that arm off. Lister spends the next episode trying to cope with one arm, and when that fails get a new one.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "The Seeds of Doom", after Winlett is infected by the Kyrnoid, the team plans to amputate his arm to stop the infection. However, the Kyrnoid takes him over and he escapes before they can do so.
* In ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' episode "Seed", they attempt this with [[spoiler: Hershel after he is bitten. It works.]]
* ''Series/TheXFiles'': Amputation is used as a preventative in a small Russian town near an industrial complex where the Purity (aka Black Oil) alien virus is being experimented with. They only want to use completely healthy individuals so if the locals cut off an arm it won't attach to them. They almost cut off Mulder's arm before he escapes, but Krycek isn't so lucky.
* In the series finale of ''Series/{{Copper}}'', which features Morehouse, Corcoran and Freeman out in the Southern wilderness hunting John Wilkes Boothe, Morehouse's [[ArtificialLimbs prosthetic leg]] begins to chafe on his stump, and it eventually becomes infected. For a while, Morehouse attempts to simply ignore it, but after a while the pain from the infection is so great he can barely walk, remarking that his leg "hurts worse than the day [he] lost it." Freeman, a doctor, eventually has to remove the lower part of his stump to stop the gangrene from spreading.
[[AC:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'', after [[spoiler: Lee]] is bitten he can try this to stop the infection. [[spoiler: It doesn't work; even if you cut his arm off Lee will still die at the end of Episode 5.]]
[[AC:Web Comics]]
* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' Dimo gets stung on the arm by some glowing blob thing and Oggie rips the arm off. The non-[[SuperSoldier Jaegers]] in the group think he's overreacting, until the severed limb melts.
* "Biscuit" in ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'' gets infected with a flesh-rotting curse after standing on a severed finger ripped off the body of an EldritchAbomination. He opts to cut the infected leg off with an axe.
[[AC: Western Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/UglyAmericans'' a batboy gets loose in Mark's counseling group and bites Mark and the Two-Headed Worm Guy. After killing it Grimes draws a machete and slices off Worm Guy's bitten hand (which regenerates). Mark (who got bitten on the crotch) pretends that it didn't get him and slowly transforms over the rest of the episode, until it turns out that Doug the Koala Man's saliva acts as an antidote.
[[AC:RealLife]]
* This used to be the only method of stopping gangrene from spreading. Nowadays, the rotting area can often be saved, but amputation is still sometimes required.
* The Manhattan Project had a policy to cover contamination with plutonium. Anyone who had plutonium enter their body through a cut or a scratch on a limb would be subjected to immediate high amputation to keep it from entering the rest of their body. Creator/RobertAHeinlein mentioned this policy in his short story "The Long Watch".
