Olympian horrifies fans with alarming video after 'legs turn to playdough' due to silent killer
Olympic athlete Lawrence Okoye and his followers were horrified when he discovered his legs had turned to 'playdough'.
When he finally got to the bottom of the problem, the track and field star realised that it could have been life-threatening.
Lawrence, 31, posted a video to TikTok to show fans what had happened to his legs.
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Pressing his thumb into his shin six times, each print seemed to make a dent in his skin.
"It looks like I'm made out of playdough," the Croydon native told followers.
Not exactly what you want in an Olympic-level athlete, is it?
A few weeks later, after being inundated with messages about his strange symptom, Lawrence shared an update.
"Basically, it's this thing called cellulitis," he explained.
"I had a leg injury a few days ago and the wound got infected with bacteria, which causes redness, swelling, and that pitted edema that you saw, which was me basically making craters in my leg."
If not treated quickly, cellulitis can be serious and even life-threatening.
Thankfully, it sounds like Lawrence caught his symptoms in time, telling followers: "It's easily treatable, just a weeks' worth of antibiotics and some rest and I should be back to normal."
Lawrence, who formerly played for the NFL and the CFL, added: "A tonne of people were trying to tell me I had heart disease or liver disease, kidney disease, cancer and diabetes but obviously that's not the case."
When cellulitis isn't treated in time, the infection can spread to the nervous system, bones and blood, and cause serious complications.
Untreated cellulitis can lead to silent killers like sepsis or toxic shock syndrome.
The infection occurs when bacteria gets into broken skin, either because of a cut, an insect bite, or dry, cracked skin.
People are more likely to contract cellulitis if they have poor circulation, a weakened immune system, have a wound from surgery, have lymphoedema, or inject drugs, according to the NHS.
Most people tend to make a full recovery in 7 to 10 days.
Typical symptoms of cellulitis can include swollen, painful glands, blisters and hot, swollen skin.
If the infection is serious, other symptoms can include a high temperature, a fast heartbeat, purple patches on the skin, confusion or dizziness, cold, clammy skin, or loss of consciousness.
If you have cellulitis with any of those symptoms, it's recommended that you contact emergency services or visit A&E right away.
Ali Condon