Man Plans Cutting His Legs Off Online

Aug. 14 -- Would you pay $20 to watch someone chop off his own feet on the Internet? A partially paralyzed man in Biloxi, Miss., hopes so.

Paul Morgan, 33, says he's set up his Web site — cutoffmyfeet.com — not just for the morbidly curious, but ultimately for his own needs.

He's hoping enough people will sign up to view the grisly procedure — planned for Halloween — so that he can raise enough money for a new set of prosthetic limbs.

"This way, I just thought I'd be able make the money faster," Morgan says on his Web site. "I'm providing [Web viewers] something for their money and I'm just going to get me some new legs."

Limited Legs

Morgan, who is unemployed, lost the use of his feet almost 15 years ago when he fell from a moving pickup truck and was run over by the attached boat trailer. After three years of rehabilitation, Morgan is able to walk, but only with the aid of plastic braces that keep his nonfunctional legs rigid.

Morgan says that to return to a fuller life, he needs a $200,000 set of hydraulic limbs — prosthetics that he says his local Medicare and Medicaid considers unnecessary and therefore won't cover.

"I'm tired of fighting them," says Morgan, who notes that his $550 monthly disability checks barely cover his medical necessities. "I just want my freedom back."

The Next Steps

Since establishing the Web site with the help of friends a few months ago, Morgan says more than 10,000 people have been visiting every day.

So far, only 10 people have ponied up the $20 for the forthcoming "operation." "Membership has been slow," Morgan says. "People still don't believe it's going to happen."

Morgan believes that will change as he begins the next phase: designing his own guillotine to remove his atrophied feet.

Morgan says the construction of the device may take a while, since he wants to ensure the blade will cut through his ankles cleanly and quickly. But he says members who sign up and pay the $20 at the site will be able to watch the entire construction process — including tests using sides of beef.