PORTLAND, ORE.— An Oregon man who nearly died from the plague in June has now lost his withered fingers and toes to the disease known as the Black Death.

Man who contracted plague from cat may lose fingers

Doctors amputated the blackened extremities of Paul “Steve” Gaylord in an operation that lasted 2 ½ hours Monday at the St. Charles Medical Center in Bend.

The 60-year-old Prineville man told The Oregonian ( http://is.gd/eOaxzB ) the surgery was a success but painful.

He says he’s happy to be alive and wants to get out of pain and be able to walk and do things for himself. He faces months of physical therapy.

Gaylord was infected in June when he tried to take a mouse out of the throat of his choking cat.