NJ mall Santa celebrates ‘Christmas miracle’ leg surgery

Santa has got a brand new leg.

A professional NJ mall Santa almost lost his leg, but he’s on the mend just in time for the holidays.

“I still choke. He saved my leg. I’m very, very grateful,” Ronald Fierro told The Post.

The Kris Kringle lookalike and retired high school teacher from Paterson, NJ had a painful wound that wouldn’t heal, so he visited a vascular doctor.

“They did tests and determined that I had a pulse in three of my limbs, but my right foot was flat. There was no blood flow. My toes and heels were turning black and I was starting to realize I could possibly lose my leg,” said Fierro, 73, who suffers from diabetes.

In June, he had surgery called pedal bypass at Ocean University Medical Center, where a vein from his thigh was placed in his lower leg.

His surgeon, Dr. Nicholas Russo, said, “If he did nothing he had about a 1 in 3 chance of losing his leg.”

“Given Ron’s medical conditions, his wound infections and the severity of his peripheral artery disease, it is truly a Christmas miracle that he is reliving Christmas for so many children this year.”

Russo was not aware at first that his patient was playing the role of Mister Claus.

Russo said with a laugh, “He literally looks like Santa, but I didn’t know that until the schedule girls told me he postponed his angiogram because he wanted to go to the Santa convention.”

Fierro began physical therapy — with the goal of getting healthy in time for the kids to bounce on his knee as the beloved Freehold Raceway Mall Santa Claus.

“I don’t play Santa. I’m Santa,” he said.

Fierro first played the role of the big man when he was working at East Orange High School, and was invited to play Santa at the National Honor Society tree lighting.

Word spread and he was asked to enroll in other schools in the district, and a new career was born.

“Eight years ago, when I retired, I went to Santa School,” he said of his time taking classes in Tampa, Florida. school4santaWhich has locations across the country.

At the world’s largest Santa school, School4Santas, he was trained on things like beard maintenance and how to deal with a scared child.

“There are children who are afraid of death. It’s almost guaranteed. Some of them are fighting for their lives,” he said.

“They’re all very excited, then they get closer and get nervous. Even my own two-year-old granddaughter didn’t realize I was Santa and cried.”

Another time, “A couple placed their little boy near my shoes. , , , He gets up and runs. They went crazy because it was the first time he walked,” he recalled, laughing.

A member of the International Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas, the world’s largest organization of professional Santas, Fierro also reads about the history of St. Nicholas, the third-century bishop on whom Santa is based.

“Many people don’t realize that he was a bishop and took a vow of poverty. And he came from a rich family,” he explained.

Fierro, who is working double shifts this Christmas because her counterpart at the mall sprained an ankle, listed the most popular toys on children’s wish lists this season: “The Barbie Dreamhouse is a frequently requested Is,” he said. “Pokemon Go, Spider-Man have been very popular… and a lot of dinosaurs.”