British Father Of One Loses Three Limbs To Flesh Eating Bacteria Which Started As A Common Cold

A brave dad lost both legs, an arm and half of his face after what he thought was a common cold turned out to be a horrific flesh eating bacteria. Father-of-one Alex Lewis's internal organs shut down as the deadly blood infection tore through his body, leaving him in a week long coma. Lewis, 34, spoke of the "excruciating pain" he suffered during his recovery, but is determined to walk again on 'blade runner' legs. He was forced to have his legs and left arm amputated after his feet, fingertips, arms, lips, nose and part of his ears turned black. It all started as a cold, but medics soon diagnosed the blood infection Group A streptococcus - a normally harmless bacteria the body should filter out. But devastatingly in Lewis's case it developed into septicaemia and toxic shock syndrome and doctors warned he had a three per cent chance of survival. Speaking from his hospital bed, Mr Lewis recalled how he went to bed early one night feeling unwell, only to wake at 2am, passing blood in his urine. His skin turned purple, his eyes dilated and he was rushed to hospital, where staff later told his partner Lucy Townsend, he wouldn't make it. But he survived and hopes one day to walk again on prosthetic 'blade runner' legs. Mr Lewis, from Stockbridge, Hants, said: "In a strange way it is the most amazing thing I have ever lived through. "I think nothing but good will come from it. I think you cope because you have to. If you don't, chances are you will probably die. "We have all got a resilience within us but it just doesn't get tested. As a family we have been tested in the last four months to the max. "But you have to make the best of the situation, realise what you have got, not what you haven't got." Miss Townsend, who owns Michelin Pub of the Year The Greyhound on the Test, in their village, said she was warned she could lose her partner last November. Miss Townsend, aged in her early 40s, said: "All his internal organs broke down so he was straight on dialysis. "His kidneys were the first to stop. Then his lungs, his kidneys, his heart followed. "Everything was shutting down so when we got to intensive care they said 'go and say goodbye', basically. "They took me to a room and told me there was a three per cent chance of his survival. "They said if he makes it through the night he will be lucky. It was just so surreal. "Hours earlier he had been at home with Sam and now here he was fighting for his life." Gangrene set in as Mr Lewis was treated at Royal County Hospital, in Winchester, Hants. But he pulled through and was transferred to Salisbury District Hospital, Wilts, and told there was only one option to save his life - amputation. Surgeons cut off his three limbs and even took muscle from his back to rebuild his dead right arm in a series of gruelling operations. They hope he may one day regain feeling in his right hand, after completing the work last month. Next, he will be transferred to a specialist unit to be fitted with prosthetic limbs and undergo rehabilitation. Mr Lewis said: "I've got no use of my fingers yet, but they hope in time the tendons and muscles will finally work their way through. "I may get the use of my thumb and forefinger but otherwise it may be another amputation. "The fact I have my hand is amazing.