They found out that he had been in that condition for more than 2 weeks on the street. And the results of the blood analysis showed it. His white blood cells were not even elevated, which means that his body was "accustomed" to the injury, and the time of infection (when the body fights bacteria) was long past.

The red blood cells were low, very low. He was extremely anemic. The volunteers knew that they did not have much choice and that they could choose – amputation or slow death. The operation was necessary because if he had stayed in that condition for a while, he probably wouldn't have survived.