'Guardians of the Glades' Star Dusty Crum Nearly Loses Leg In Car Accident

"Guardians of The Glades" star Dusty Crum was involved in a scary car accident down in Florida ... and things were so bad he was in serious danger of losing his right leg.

The snake hunter from the Discovery show tells TMZ ... he was riding shotgun in a truck on a Florida highway last month when a tire blew on the trailer and the driver lost control, causing the truck to fishtail before flipping 3 times.

Dusty says the crash caused severe damage to his lower right leg and knee, and he was airlifted to a hospital in the Fort Meyers area, where doctors were able to save his leg with 5 different surgical procedures.

It's pretty scary ... Dusty says his window broke when the car flipped and his leg went out the window, and got crushed by the weight of the vehicle. He says as the vehicle kept rolling he managed to pull his leg back inside.

Dusty says he thought he was going to die after the accident ... using his shirt as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding as he tried to keep himself awake waiting for paramedics from the side of the highway.

While doctors were able to save the leg, Dusty's been in the hospital for nearly 4 weeks ... and he's hopefully moving to a rehab facility in the next few days.

Dusty is not insured and will be facing a ton of medical bills, so a friend has started a GoFundMe and they are asking for people to consider buying holiday gifts from his store.