Former union leader Ottiwell Simmons is counting his blessings twice after almost losing a leg and then suffering from a stroke.

The former Progressive Labour Party MP is recovering at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York after two clots blocked his blood flow — one that almost took his leg and one that could have cost him his life.

His daughter, Emma Williams, said he is in good spirits and looking forward to returning home after the ordeal.

“He’s the same old Otti,” Ms Williams told The Royal Gazette. “He is cheerful, gracious, humble and very grateful.”

Speaking from his hospital bed, Mr Simmons, 85, added: “I didn’t want to become a one-legged man — I have enough difficulty with two legs.

“And with the stroke — I have never been through anything like this in my life, it was a new experience for me. I am grateful and thankful to have got though it. I’m blessed.”

Ms Williams was with her father on September 14 when she noticed that his left leg had gone cold.

She got him to King Edward VII Memorial where surgeon Herman Thouet realised that there was a blockage in his vascular system and that his leg was in jeopardy.

Dr Thouet tried to transfer him to the Lahey Clinic in Boston but doctors there said it was too late and that his leg needed to be amputated as soon as possible. However, Ms Williams insisted they looked at other options.

Eventually, Lenox Hill Hospital ordered him to be airlifted to them urgently where a team of vascular surgeons and cardiologists were ready and waiting to save his leg.

Cardiologist Varinder Singh said: “Time of course is of the essence. Once the muscle dies, even if you restore blood flow to it you can still lose the leg. We were frantically working as fast as we could.

“We immediately began treatment. The next day his leg was warm, he was no longer in pain and he had a bounding pulse in the foot. We saved his leg.”

A few days later, Mr Simmons was back on his feet and discharged from hospital.

But as he was walking out of the hospital he suffered a stroke brought on by a second clot that led to his brain.

Dr Singh, a cardiologist for Lenox Hill healthcare provider and private employer Northwell Health, recalled: “He couldn’t move the left side of his body. We found the clot, sucked it out, now he can move everything; no problem.

“Having done this for a long time, there is a big book and once your name is up, your name is up. His name wasn’t up. It was incredible.”

Mr Simmons was president of the Bermuda Industrial Union from 1974 to 1996 and a figurehead for the labour movement.

He was a key player in the General Strike of 1981, when more than 10,000 public and private sector workers walked off the job in protest at poor wages and conditions.

He was also the Progressive Labour Party MP for Pembroke East from 1976 to 2007.

Dr Singh said treating him was one of the best experiences of his career.

“I got to know Mr Simmons and his daughter and they are just lovely, lovely human beings,” he said.

“The first thing I said to him was ‘congratulations’. I said ‘thank your daughter every day because she saved your leg’.”

Doctors believe that the clots may have come from Mr Simmons’s aorta and that age is likely the biggest factor.

Ms Williams said: “He walks every day. Nobody wants to lose a limb but, for someone as active as he is, it would have been devastating. For me, there had to be another answer.

“When he had the stroke I just thought, what next? One thing I can say is that we have a strong faith and ultimately it’s God’s decision, not mine. After the initial shock, you pray.

“It took them five minutes to do the second procedure.” Ms Williams explained. “He had to rest, he was a bit groggy, but the next day he was up cracking jokes and talking. I just want to say thank you to the whole team it means so much.

“He has never been through anything like this — he has always been healthy. It was a humbling experience. He has a welcoming spirit, a loving spirit.”

Mr Simmons added: “I am still a sick man, I have to make a reasonable recovery to get my leg functioning again.

“I want to thank the doctors, especially thank my daughter, and to thank my friends who rallied around me.”