Man who burnt thumb while cooking shocked to wake up and find both his legs needed to be amputated

A man ended up losing both of his legs and fighting for his life after getting what seemed at first like a 'minor' burn while cooking.

Max Armstrong had been camping with some friends in Kiowa, Colorado in December 2024, hoping to spend a week out enjoying the great outdoors.

While making pasta for dinner one night Max burnt his thumb he 'grabbed a skillet wrong', saying: "I could feel it burning as I moved it to the table, but I didn't want to drop it."

Burns are of course not an uncommon occurrence in the kitchen, and Max said he 'didn't think much of it' at the time, saying: "I have gotten burns, scrapes and cuts from living in the outdoors and being outdoors my whole life."

Max then treated the burn as he normally would, cleaning it, bandaging it, and then just continuing on with the trip, as you would with such an injury, not thinking it was any more serious than just a burn while cooking.

However, things started to appear different around two days or so later when Max realised that one one of his legs had 'started to swell up'.

Initially the pain did not seem especially 'significant' to him, so he didn't think anything of it, assuming that he had perhaps 'hurt his ankle at some point' while out and about with his friends.

He spent six days in a coma after heading to hospital with strange symptoms (SWNS)

But as the days went by, it started to become clear that unfortunately, this was more serious than just hurting his ankle slightly, and when it got to 7 December he decided he needed to cut the trip short and get help.

"I decided to head home and my buddy suggested we go to the hospital," the outdoors lover said. "At that point, my toenails started turning purple and the swelling had increased."

Baffled as to why his lower limbs were swelling up, Armstrong headed to the AdventHealth Parker hospital.

"At this point, the burn on my thumb had become pretty ugly, it had turned black and looked like it was eating away at my thumb," the adventurer said.

As he sat down to discuss his bizarre symptoms with doctors, the business owner explained that his eyes began 'rolling back in his head' while he started 'talking nonsense'.

Medics then realised that strep A bacteria had infiltrated the burn on his thumb and had quickly developed into sepsis - which can be life-threatening if it is not treated properly.

Armstrong was then transported to AdventHealth Porter, which had facilities better suited to his needs, before doctors placed him into an induced coma for six days.

His loved ones were told to prepare for the worst, but miraculously, Armstrong regained consciousness on 13 December.

"Everyone was very happy to see me," he said. "The doctors told them that I might not make it, there was a lot of concern that I would never wake up.

"My family was extremely happy, I could hear them cheering and then the nurses came in and started cleaning me up."

He had to have both of his lower legs amputated after sepsis ate away at them (SWNS)

But the mood of elation quickly disintegrated when Armstrong noticed that his feet were both 'completely black', while doctors informed him they would need to amputate his limbs.

He explained that while he was in the coma, the sepsis had completely eaten away at his feet and had started spreading to his legs - meaning it was impossible for them to be saved.

So, on 23 December, Armstrong underwent a three-hour procedure to amputate both of his legs before spending a month recovering in hospital.

Speaking of the moment he roused after the surgery, he said: "Initially when I woke up, I thought my legs were still there and then I came to realise that they weren't.

"I felt down my leg and realised that my legs weren't there, I asked the nurse and she confirmed that I had my legs amputated.

"She told me that my family was waiting for me and kept on reminding me of them which anchored me."

With this motivation, Armstrong then left the hospital on 14 January to attend the Sky Ridge Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation clinic in Colorado, where he spent another 16 days.

He will now have to rely on a wheelchair for the rest of his life - but is keen to become a pro at triceps and shoulder exercises which will help with his mobility, describing them as his 'lifeline'.

"It was a hunting trip with friends that turned into a bit of a nightmare," Armstrong said of his ordeal. "Sadly, dinner was enough for the burn to get strep A."

A GoFundMe has been organised to help fund Armstrong's road to recovery, which you can check out here.