The 86-year-old Port Chalmers resident said he was set to wait at least a year to see a surgeon because of the understaffed health system, a delay that seemed "Third World".
Mr Scott has spinal stenosis, a condition that sometimes makes it almost impossible to walk because of pressure on his spinal cord and nerves.
For years, his struggles had been dismissed as arthritis, but the situation came to a head last May.
He was drying dishes when his legs suddenly went numb — an ambulance ride and overnight stay in hospital followed.
Eventually he was given an MRI scan, and in November an anesthetist report deemed him fit for surgery and recommended it proceed.
However, the anesthetist could not give any timeframe for the operation, Mr Scott said.
Last month he called the hospital to find out more.
"I asked not a date, but an approximate timeframe where I might be able to see the surgeon prior to an operation.
"[A receptionist] told me she looked up the records, and told me quite bluntly it would likely be at least another year."
If successful, the surgery would be life-changing, he said.
Some days his legs felt good enough to take a walk, but on other days — especially recently — they did not.
"I run the risk anytime at all, of being paralysed from the waist down when I’m away from the house and not being able to do anything about it.
"That’s a very, very real risk that could happen.
"At times it gets very, very frightening. I just have to take a chance."
He did not want end up stuck sitting on the pavement when the ambulance was busy, he said.
He was trying to mitigate the risk, for example by taking a little and often approach to grocery shopping so he would not have to push a trolley.
It seemed "Third World" that he could not get the treatment he urgently needed after paying taxes for 70 years, he said.
The health system needed more specialists and the only way to attract them was to pay them more — even if it meant higher taxes.
While he was just getting by, others were much worse off, he said.
"I think we deserve a lot better than that."
Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand Southern did not respond to questions asked by the Otago Daily Times.
