A trip to paradise ended in the health scare of a lifetime for a Manitoba man.

Darren Thomas returned from a winter getaway in Mexico at the end of January to find out his foot may have to be amputated.

It's the last thing he expected to hear after getting what he thought was a minor infection.

Thomas got the shocking news from a surgeon while visiting an emergency room in Winnipeg immediately following his seven-day stay in Mexico.

"(The surgeon) said 'we're going to have to amputate your foot' and a cold sweat just went all through me,” said Thomas.

It all started on day four of his family's trip to Playa del Carmen. Thomas went for a shower and noticed discoloration on the bottom of his foot, but he had no idea what caused it.

"We just thought it was just a blister, because you know, we'd done quite a bit of walking.”

The next morning, the bottom of his foot was filled with fluid and there was even more discoloration.

"That was (when) the decision was made…at that point, I said, 'okay I'm going to stay off of it, because I don't know what it is,'” said Thomas. “We rented a wheelchair and the rest of the week was basically me in a wheelchair."

Thomas had travel insurance and travel vaccines, but because it was his first trip to Mexico, he didn’t know much about the country’s medical system.

He decided to wait until returning home to get his foot treated. When he found out amputation was needed, he asked for a second opinion.

Doctors in Winnipeg attempted to treat the infection with powerful antibiotics.

"After about 48 hours…that was their test, the swelling started to go down the redness started to go down."

The amputation wasn’t needed after all.

Medical experts say if you feel you need medical attention abroad, it's important to get it to promote the most positive health outcome.

CAA Manitoba said if have questions and concerns about the safety of hospitals in foreign countries, it's best to contact your travel insurance provider.

"They will be able to determine where they should go to get appropriate medical attention,” said Glynnis Fidler, CAA’s insurance services manager. “Again, depending on the severity of the conditions, it may be a visit to a clinic, or if it's much more serious, it could be a hospitalization."

As for Thomas, he's now on the road to recovery.

Dr. Evelyn Lo, an infectious disease specialist with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, said amputation is a last resort to stop the spread of infection. Deciding whether it's necessary is a judgement call made by doctors.

Thomas said knowing what he knows now, he likely would've gone for medical treatment in Mexico instead of waiting until getting back home.

Public health officials are not aware of any spike in travel related infections. In Mexico, the only recent travel warning is for the Zika virus.