Shoe maker question

[YosemiteBen]

So - I am going to attempt to make my brother a shoe. He is diabetic and has lost all of the toes on his right foot. He has a lot of edema in his right calf and foot and "regular" things just don't fit. He needs something more stable than a moc. I was thinking of using a tire skin from a blow out as the foundation. Thicker leather inner liner and stiffer medium weight leather for the upper. His foot is pretty large and is ankle is 13 inches around. The walking boot thing he has now is too small and too stiff. He has been quoted 1600$ for a custom shoe. Any thoughts will be appreciated.

[WhistlingBadger]

I make "gillie-mocs" very similar to these.  I wonder if a high-top version, either with good, heavy leather or with a stiffer rubber sole glued or sewn on, would give adequate support?  They're quite easy to make: I can make a pair of these in about half an hour with a good pair of scissors, a rotary leather punch, some artificial sinew, and a heavy sewing needle (and I'm a huge clutz).  They are also really easy to customize so they fit, so you would experiment.
https   ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z13qgcksoU4&t=215s (remove space after https)

[TrevorM]

If you have veg tan leather you could make a last (a form of his foot) and wet mold it. That should give you a perfect fit. I'd check out youtube too like WhistlingBadger said, there's lots of different videos that should give you some ideas.