A GRANDAD who stubbed his toe on a rock on holiday ended up nearly dying.
Paul Taylor stumbled while in flip flips as he clambered along the Turkish coast.
The 63-year-old was enjoying a trip to the Aegean coast of Kusadasi in 2017 with his family.
He hadn’t hurt his foot much so popped on a plaster to the injured toe and carried on with the break.
But when he got back to the UK, the retired caretaker noticed his foot was swollen and the toe had turned purple.
He went to the GP, who wasn’t too concerned, before doctors at hospital found he had an infection which had caused sepsis.
His stunned family were then told the grandad was hours away from death as the killer infection spread.
Paul, who has 20 grandchildren, said: “How did they not identify there was a major issue? I was just left to suffer and it steadily got worse.
“My foot started to develop gangrene and the skin around the foot starting to peel off.”
He was eventually told the heartbreaking news that he would need his left leg amputated below his knee and went under the knife.
Paul added: “One minute I was told you will have to lose your toe, then they left it and it got worse and I ended up losing my leg.
“I was literally hours from death and my family were brought into see me and I was given the last rites.
“I was pretty out of it and it all happened so quickly.”
Thankfully, the operation was a success at stopping the spread of the sepsis and Paul was discharged after spending three weeks in hospital.
He and wife Karon, 65, moved into an assisted living facility in Solihull, West Mids., earlier this year.
But during a visit to his daughter Kelly Smith, 38, last week, his right foot became swollen and his family feared the sepsis had returned.
He was taken to hospital on Sunday where doctors told him he might have to lose his other leg.
Paul said: “I was taken to Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham on Sunday morning, after the pain was getting unbearable – I couldn’t get out of bed.
“It looks like I am going to have some other toes removed and possibly even my other lower leg.
“Me and my family just feel sorry for the untold stress and worry on my wife, Karon.
“I just can’t believe this is happening to me again and all because of a stubbed toe.”
Sepsis is the primary cause of death from infection around the world, claiming around 40,000 lives in the UK each year.
The condition is always triggered by an infection – both sepsis and septicaemia refer to a blood infection that’s typically caused by bacteria.
It is not contagious and cannot be passed from person to person.
Most often the culprit is an infection we all recognise – pneumonia, urinary infections (UTIs), skin infections, including cellulitis, and infections in the stomach, for example appendicitis.
Source: The Sun
