Would there be any words to describe an experience of going to a doctor for treatment for flu but ending up with your limbs amputated? It sounds such a surreal nightmare rather than a prospective incident of reality but that is exactly what happened to Alex Lewis.
Alex was healthy but it’s safe to say that he was most unfortunate. Imagine coming down with the common flu only to find yourself in a hospital a few weeks later with the scary revelation that your limbs need to be amputated. Alex had no choice; he was made to undergo the agony of foregoing his limbs as a life-saving procedure.
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Alex Lewis was your healthy average young man. In 2013 he came down with flu and dismissed it as the common flu which would go away after a few OTC medicines just like the flu does. It goes away but! Alex instead got worse. The man made the biggest mistake of his life by not seeking medical help.
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Alex thought himself extremely healthy and that medical intervention wasn’t necessary for his condition. His flu only got worse and after two weeks Alex was hospitalized with an even worse condition.
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From a common cold to flu to a Strep A condition Alex had no idea things would get so wrong with his health. "I contracted what I thought was a common cold and it turned into the flu which then lead to Strep A.
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Alex says he had no idea that he could be suffering from such a serious infection. Two weeks later he had to get his legs and arms amputated which wasn’t the only agony in this man’s nightmare. His face was disfigured too.
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Lucy, Alex’s wife was utterly distraught. She had no idea that the perceived ordinary flu would end up changing the course of their life. "I think if it was sort of July, we would sort of questioned it," she says. "But because it was November it was just flu time. He was still eating, he was still going to meetings and doing some work and things. It was just basically man flu.
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Alex was definitely not suffering from man flu it was something deadlier. Alex instead was suffering from a streptococcal infection that had also invaded his blood causing him blood poisoning and his organs started failing. He was on the verge of succumbing to his disease had the doctors not made the decision to amputate his limbs. But, why his limbs.
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It turned out that Alex limbs were most infected. By that time Alex had slipped into a coma because of septicemia. Doctors then had no alternative than to amputate his hands and legs.
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When Alex woke up after 10 days, he found he had no limbs. They tried desperately to save his right arm but it was too late, the disease had infected it beyond saving.
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The infection had gone to the point of Alex’s face also being infected which is why the doctors had to remove that section of his mouth. It seemed Alex’s world just came crumbling down over him but he was helpless.
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The 33-year old’s life was about to change dramatically. It was only his wife Lucy and his son Sam who gave him the hope to see that there was light at the end of the tunnel. They needed him in their lives and he had won his life back. Doctors had saved him and that was the important thing.
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If you think Alex was bogged down by his condition, then think again. Alex has gone kayaking, boating, and even skydiving. He has toured places and even been to Greenland. Alex is actually an inspiration of how to see the positive side of life. He didn’t consider it a bleak future for himself; he embraced life with as much enthusiasm as he had always done before.
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