Alex Lewis, a father from the United Kingdom (Great Britain).
Alex Lewis, a father from the United Kingdom (Great Britain).
In 2013, Alex Lewis (then around 33-34 years old) started with symptoms like a common cold (or “man flu”), but it quickly turned into a very serious infection with Strep A (group A streptococcus), which caused toxic shock syndrome, septicemia (blood poisoning) and necrotizing fasciitis (a disease known as “flesh-eating bacteria” or flesh-eating bug).
To save his life (he had only a 3% chance of survival), doctors were forced to amputate:
Father who lost four limbs and part of his face to flesh-eating bug gets new lips | Metro News
All four limbs (quadruple amputee – legs, arms),
Parts of his face, including his lips and a bit of his nose.
Initially he only had a partial arm left, but various stories say he lost all four limbs completely in the end. His face became the first to be recognized after numerous surgeries, so much so that his young son (about 3 years old at the time) was afraid to kiss or hug him at first.
Today (look at him today): Alex has made an extraordinary recovery. He has had reconstructive surgeries – e.g. taking skin from his shoulder to create new lips, and then tattooing them to give them a natural color (a “world-first” procedure at the time). He walks with prosthetics, has climbed the highest mountain in Ethiopia, opened a hotel (his dream), lives a fully active life, and often says that losing his limbs has made him appreciate life more – he has even said that he “wouldn’t take them back” if they were back, because he has lived more intensely since.
His story has been widely covered in the media such as the Daily Mail, The Sun, Mirror, Fox News, etc., and has had documentaries on TV (e.g. on Channel 4).
Man Lost All Four Limbs & Lips to a Flesh-Eating Bug, Gets New Lips Tattooed on His Face | LatestLY