Warning: This article contains graphic images that some readers may find disturbing
A man who thought he was suffering from a common 'cold' was forced to spend three months in hospital after a flesh-eating bug attacked his bum.
Simon English, 55, from Yorkshire, England, initially thought he picked up a virus from his wife, Kay, 55, who works as a teaching assistant.
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But it didn't take long for his flu like symptoms of a fever, cough and tiredness started to turn into something much worse.
After noticing that 'something wasn't right', Simon visited the hospital to receive a shocking diagnosis.
Doctors told the retired fireman that he has a deadly bacterial infection called necrotising fasciitis, and that 'one in five patients don’t make it'.
The infection results in the deterioration of parts of the body's soft tissue - which was his bottom, in Simon's case - and it left him in ICU for three months.
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“I just felt like I was coming down with a heavy cold,” he said. “I’m one of those people where I just never get ill - or rarely.
“My wife was suffering as well, there’s always something going around at school."
He went on: "It’s quite scary when you think about this bug, really - I now look like a shark’s taken a bite out of my a**e.
“I ended up looking like I was about 70 years old, after lying in bed for weeks. My nurse told me if I’d left it any longer before going to hospital, I wouldn’t be here now.
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“I came so close to dying. I had four operations to fully debride it. They dressed it, and sent me back to the ICU.”
Simon was then sent for a skin graft on his bum, with some taken from his right leg. The infection was so severe, Simon even had an emergency colostomy to allow his wound to heal properly.
“I had to walk around the hospital with a walking frame,” he added. “I was in hospital for a further two months, to allow the wound to heal.”
Thankfully, the 55-year-old was discharged from the hospital in June, but is still waiting to find out when the reversal procedure will be done.
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“Apart from my stoma, I’m all healed up. My wound has totally healed - although it looks a bit funny, because of my skin graft.
“The surgeon did say of all places to get it - you’d want it on your buttock so it’s out-of-sight.
“I’ve started doing a few little handyman jobs here and there, and I would like to get back to being a part-time gardener. I’m hoping to hear about my stoma reversal surgery in the next eight weeks.”
Anish Vij