Mangled extremities are a problem facing most trauma centres in the world, the gustillo anderson classication provides a way of grouping these injuries into severity categories. The 3C injury is one that involves a severe open fracture involving extensive soft tissue damage with vascular injury requiring repair. These patients typically have a very complex course with multiple operations and expense to the health care system with long term outcomes not well reported. We will present a case series on injuries and outcomes of 3 patients with 3c injuries at a tertiary Queensland Hospital, focusing on the complexity of their individual limb salvage and presenting the outcomes for each with some long term follow-up. Presenting a 21-year-old with complete limb preservation, another 21-year-old with complete limb save but partial loss of the reconstructed limb soft tissue and finally a 43-year-old who proceed to an above knee amputation as a result of her injury and unsuccessful attempt at salvage. We will use these three cases to highlight some principles that may inform decisions on early amputation versus limb salvage.