Footy great reveals he had both legs and four fingers amputated because of his smoking habit - but cancer ISN'T the culprit

A combination of an old footy injury and excessive cigarette smoking have led to a footy great having both legs and four fingers amputated because of a rare and horrible disease.

Mick Healey, now 71, played 56 first-grade games for North Sydney and two for Manly, scoring 19 tries in a seven-year career between 1973 and 1979. 

Coached by rugby league legends such as Noel Kelly, Tommy Bishop, Bill Hamilton, and Frank Stanton, Healey's achievements include playing in the 1977 Wills Cup final against Easts at the SCG, where he even had the honour of playing in front of Queen Elizabeth II. 

However, the glory of playing footy quickly turned sour in retirement, with the former front-rower and winger now wheelchair-bound after contracting a rare disease that killed off parts of his body.

Broken toes suffered while playing, a finger injury from working in the transport industry and a pack-a-day addiction to Marlboro cigarettes led to Healey contracting  Buerger's disease.

Buerger's disease, also known as thromboangiitis obliterans and , is a rare inflammatory condition that primarily affects the blood vessels in the arms and legs. 

It is characterised by the formation of blood clots, inflammation, and narrowing or blockage of the blood vessels, leading to reduced blood flow and tissue damage. 

'This all started back in 1990 and kept going for around 20 years,' Healey said of his health issues, which began when he accidentally jammed his right index finger in a car door,' he told News Corp.

The cut became infected as it was a finger he used to hold his cigarettes.

'[The nicotine] went from the cigarette into the cut and then attacked the most vulnerable spot in your body, which were my toes because I broke them playing football,' Healey explained.

That led to doctors gradually removing body parts to combat the infection.

'I lost toe after toe, then the front of my foot, ankle and different parts up my leg,' Healey said.

'I had one below-knee amputation but the other was all right.

'But then I kicked an ashtray which was on the floor and that started, virtually, the same thing on my left foot and toes.'

Fed-up with the ongoing operations, Healey elected to have both legs amputated.

'I had prosthetic legs below the knees to try and walk but they would get loose and rub on the bone and I'd get a blood blister on the stump and within a week it would turn into gangrene so they would lop off more in hospital,' he said.

'I would spend three months in hospital each time. In the end, I just said "no more" and that I would sit in a wheelchair. Both legs were amputated above my knees.

'I would have about 30 operations, maybe a few more.

'I would knock the tip of my finger and it would get a blood blister and a week later it would turn gangrenous. I've had two fingers on my right hand removed and two on my left.

'They even tried leeches and maggots to get rid of the dead skin, they tried everything.'

Despite the major surgery, Healey remains optimistic about life.

'There's people out there worse off than I am,' he said.

'There's no use regretting when you look back – there's no future in that.'