Argentina legend Gabriel Batistuta asked for his legs to be amputated due to pain he felt after retiring

Argentina legend Gabriel Batistuta begged a doctor to amputate his legs due to the excruciating pain he felt after retiring in 2005.

The former striker, who netted 56 times in 78 international caps, suffered terribly from the stress he had put on his body during a 17-year career.

Batistuta was unable to walk and would wet the bed as he could not face dragging his body to the bathroom.

And the former Fiorentina striker felt in so much pain at the age of 36 that he longed to have his legs removed, just like South African athlete Oscar Pistorius. 

The now 45-year-old told TyC Sports: 'I left football and overnight I couldn’t walk.

'I wet the bed even though the bathroom was only three metres away. It was 4am and I knew if I stood my ankle would kill me.

'I went to see Doctor Avanzi (an Orthopaedics specialist) and told him to cut off my legs. He looked at me and told me I was crazy.

'I couldn’t bear it any longer. I can’t put in to words just how bad the pain was. I looked at Oscar Pistorius and said, "that’s my solution".'

Despite begging doctors to amputate his legs, medical professionals chose to fit screws into one of his legs instead due to the lack of cartilage and tendons.

This largely rectified the problem as it prevented bone rubbing on bone, and Batistuta is no longer suffering from the excruciating pain he felt upon retirement. 

Batistuta made 516 career appearances, scoring 300 goals, including 207 for Fiorentina during a nine-year spell in Florence.

The prolific forward also won the Argentina Primera Division in 1990, as well as Serie A with Roma in 2001.