Guitarist Leslie West Of Mountain Has Lower Leg Amputated

Lead guitarist for the group Mountain, Leslile West, is recovering after having his lower right leg amputated to save his life. The 65 year old West had the emergency surgery after he was admitted to a hospital in Biloxi, Mississippi Saturday. The Washington Post reported West's wife Jenni issued an e-mail statement saying the surgery was necessary to stop a spreading infection.

The doctors tried for two days to save it to no avail,” she wrote in the statement forwarded to The Associated Press by publicist Steve Karas. “The decision to amputate was one that was necessary to save his life as the infection was spreading throughout his body.”The infection was complicated by peripheral arterial disease and “blood clotting factors,” she wrote. - The Washington Post

Mountain was one of the groups that performed at 1969 Woodstock Festival in Bethel, New York. Their biggest hit, "Mississippi Queen", was their only Top Forty hit, going to number 21 on the Billboard Top 40 Chart.