Dad who lost limbs and half his face to FLESH-EATING bug reveals son recoiled in horror

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By Oli Smith

PUBLISHED: 22:14, Thu, Apr 28, 2016

THIS is the agonizing moment a dad, who lost all his limbs and half his face to a flesh-eating bug, revealed the heartbreaking moment his son recoiled in horror.

Alex Lewis was struck down by a terrifying flesh-eating bug that left him battling for life.
Mr Lewis was struck down when a streptococcus – a normally harmless bacteria found on the skin – entered his body and sent him into toxic shock.

He miraclously recovered even though doctors had given him just a three per cent chance of recovery.

 

 Alex Lewis was struck down by a terrifying flesh-eating bug that left him battling for life

The inspirational 35-year-old continues to face a long road to recovery after his entire life was transformed by the condition.

He has revealed the most devastating moment of the entire horrific ordeal was when his son first saw him in hospital.

Three-year-old Sam recoiled in horror when he saw his dad's face and could not bear to kiss him.
Speaking on ITV's This Morning, Mr Lewis , from Stockbridge in Hampshire, said: "Your face is completely unrecognisable and for a little boy to look at that, having seen his father upright, legs, arms, looking normal.

"It was very hard – for the both of us – we both struggled.
"People saw that I'd lost parts of my body but what people couldn't see was the impact it had on my family life.

"All Sam talks about now is 'daddy when you get your legs you can kick a ball about in the garden' and 'when you get your legs you can do this, that and the other'.

"I want my son to be proud of me and at ease in his skin and with everything he does. You have no clue what life is going to throw at you.

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The inspirational 35-year-old continues to face a long road to recovery

"The frustration is when I watch Sam playing in the garden out of the window and I can't play with him."
But fortunately, the two have since become closer, although instead of kicking a ball with Sam they now make forts indoors.

He joked: “It’s perfect as we are about the same size now."

When he fell ill in November 2013, Mr Lewis initially dismissed his crippling headaches as a flu.
But his fiancee soon noticed there was something much more sinister going on.

Lucy said: “His eyes were popping out of his skull and the whole top half of his body was going purple in front of me.

"He was shivering and losing consciousness. The paramedics couldn’t get any blood out of him because his veins were shutting down.”

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Three-year-old Sam recoiled in horror when he saw his dad's face and could not bear to kiss him

He was immediately rushed to hospital where he was put into an induced coma while doctors battled to prevent life-threatening kidney failure.

At one point, he was taking 50 pills a day as his conditions continued to get worse.
He soon suffered rapid gangrene as his arms, legs, earlobes, lips and nose turned black.
Doctors were forced to intervene and amputate Mr Lewis's arms and legs over the course of the next months after his limbs become so weak.

He said: “I woke up and my arm was dangling from the elbow. My surgeon said we could do exploratory surgery but that meant another two years mucking about trying to fix it.

"I knew that would be two years putting my life on hold. I wouldn’t even have started rehab now. So I decided to get on with my life and said cut if off.”

Mr Lewis faces a cost of nearly £2.5million over his lifetime to pay for state-of-the-art prosthetic legs with microprocessor chips that are no longer offered by the NHS.
But he remains adamant: “It’s only money. We’ll do whatever we have to do to raise it.”

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 He miraculously recovered even though doctors had given him just a three per cent chance of recovery

He said he looks forward to the future now and will even attempt to walk down the aisle with Lucy, after he proposed last year.

He said his illness made him realise his partner and their son Sam are the most important things in his life and his reason for living

Lucy said: "Mentally he is the same old Alex. He’s still the man I fell in love with. But now he is more determined than ever. We’re so lucky as a family. We have a brilliant life.”

Mr Lewis added: “It’s incredible to think how far we’ve come. I’ve gone from being minutes from death to being blissfully happy. You can’t look back, especially when we’ve so much to look forward to.”