A man's toes will fall off after he developed gangrene and was left to "rot to death" in A&E, his family claimed.
Krystian Jelowicki, 87, was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton after an existing issue in his right foot deteriorated due to a blockage in his leg, his family said.
His family were told he would be offered end-of-life care rather than treatment for the blockage because he had dementia after a harrowing 30-hour wait in an A&E corridor.
His daughter Ilenka Jelowicki said: "It felt like they were saying, 'we're just going to let your father rot to death'."
Ms Jelowicki said the family challenged the assessment and he went on to have a procedure to restore blood flow.
University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust has apologised for the family's experience, but says patient confidentiality prevents it from verifying or denying their claims.
Ms Jelowicki had taken her father to the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath in early August, where he was diagnosed with an infection from athlete's foot and given antibiotics.
Afterwards, he and his wife Jane returned to their home in the Scottish Highlands, but his mobility continued to deteriorate.
He later spent two weeks in a hospital in Nairn, Scotland, as the pain in his foot increased. Ms Jelowicki said he was not seen by a vascular specialist in this time.
After 25 years in the Highlands, the couple moved to Haywards Heath in Sussex in October to be closer to family.
Ms Jelowicki, who lives near East Grinstead, said a visiting nurse advised the family to take him to A&E in Brighton shortly afterwards.
She took him to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton on Wednesday, October 14, where a vascular team assessed him and said he would be admitted.
But he was moved into a corridor while waiting for a ward bed and spent the night there under bright lights, Ms Jelowicki said.
She described the crowded A&E conditions as like a "war zone".
Mr Jelowicki, who lived through the Second World War, woke up and asked seriously whether a third world war had started.
Ms Jelowicki said her father, who has vascular dementia, was confused and distressed by the conditions.
He spent around 30 hours on a bed in the corridor until a ward bed became available on Thursday afternoon, she added.
Two black spots had been visible on Mr Jelowicki's toes since August, but the spots had not spread or changed in size.
However, by the time Mr Jelowicki was moved to the ward bed, his foot was deteriorating quickly, with the black discolouration spreading.
Ms Jelowicki said: "The black was spreading to his middle toes and his baby toe.
"His foot was decaying, and smelling like it was rotting.
"It was very obvious that there was a serious problem."
On Friday, October 16, Ms Jelowicki said she and her sisters were told by a doctor their father had a serious vascular blockage.
But he would not be offered treatment for this because he had what the doctor described as "advanced dementia".
She said they were told he would instead receive end-of-life care.
The news shocked them, and they feared their father would be left to "rot to death".
She said: "It was horrible. My mother was crying.
"We were speechless."
She said the family disputed the assessment, believing his confusion had been made worse by his time in A&E.
She said a senior vascular doctor then saw her father and the family were told an angioplasty - a procedure to open the blocked artery - would be offered.
Ms Jelowicki said the procedure had been pencilled in for Monday, October 19, but was delayed.
The angioplasty eventually took place on Tuesday morning - six days after being admitted to A&E - restoring blood flow to his leg and foot, and stopping the gangrene from spreading to his big toe.
However, Ms Jelowicki said all four other toes on his right foot were black and the family had been told they would be left to shrivel and fall off.
Two of them have dried out and are expected to "fall off shortly", while the other two will take longer, she said.
Ms Jelowicki said: "He kept asking to look at his toes. I couldn't bring myself to tell him they're going to fall off."
She added: "It's very distressing for him to look at his foot."
Mr Jelowicki has now been transferred to the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath, where he is waiting for a bed in a rehabilitation ward.
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A University Hospitals Sussex spokesperson said: "We have spoken directly to Mr Jelowicki’s family about his care and we are truly sorry for their experience.
"We take their concerns extremely seriously and fully appreciate how distressing this must have been for them.
"Patient safety is our highest priority, and decisions about care and treatment are made by experienced clinicians, based on careful, ongoing clinical assessments and each patient’s individual needs and circumstances at the time.
"We also fully acknowledge that significant demand across health and care services can lead to long waits in emergency departments for some patients, including in escalation areas, and we are working closely with our local system partners to reduce waiting times."
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