When the sound of firecrackers of the Spring Festival has not yet dissipated and people all over the country are welcoming the Year of the Horse in snow, three patients and their families who are in the ward of the second ward of the vascular surgery department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University after “amputation” are unable to integrate into this sea of joy. Patient 1, male, 60 years old, was admitted with massive necrosis of the distal right lower extremity; Patient 2, female, 67 years old, was admitted with massive cyanosis of both lower extremities and partial necrosis of the distal right lower extremity; Patient 3, male, 65 years old, was admitted with massive cyanosis and partial necrosis of the distal right lower extremity. When the three patients were admitted to the hospital, everyone was still on the Spring Festival holiday, but the chief of the ward, Prof. Guo Xueli, ended his holiday early and was inspired by him, so did Dr. Zhang Chong and Dr. Chen Ningheng, the attending physicians. Immediately after admission, the three patients were given anticoagulation, thrombolysis, vasodilatation and circulation improvement treatment to save the affected limb as much as possible. Although actively treated, the necrotic limb could not be saved because the patients missed the best treatment time. The absorption of toxins released from the necrotic limb put the three patients’ lives at risk at any time. In front of the dilemma of saving life and preserving the leg, life was put in the first place. After intensive preoperative preparations, the three patients received amputation of the necrotic limb (lower and middle thigh) and arterial embolization on the sixth, seventh and eighth days of the first month, respectively, and the lives of the three patients were preserved after careful postoperative treatment. The remaining two patients recovered well. Zhang Chong, Department of Vascular Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University