A dad nearly died after he contracted deadly sepsis and needed his leg amputated on his 40th birthday to try and save his life.
Dave ‘Kenny’ Cram, 40, from Blackpool, Lancashire, suffered a strained groin muscle during a game of football he played with friends earlier this month.
The DPD driver hadn’t felt well before the game and thought this was just down to a sore throat.
But after the match developed pain in his left leg and displayed flu-like symptoms.
Just 24 hours later the dad-of-one was rushed to hospital via ambulance where doctors discovered he had developed life-threatening sepsis.
Surgeons were forced to amputate his left leg at the hip on his 40th birthday, Jan 16, in an attempt to save his life.
Kenny’s brother Lee, 35, said: “We assume Dave might have had a bad tackle during the football match and hurt his leg.
"He was already suffering from a sore throat, which turned out to be Strep A.
"The infection collected on his leg injury and his body became severely septic and he was diagnosed with Toxic Shock Syndrome.
While in A&E, Kenny was taken to the ICU and put in an induced coma for immediate surgery on his leg.
"His leg muscles swelled dramatically and crushed his leg, cutting his blood supply, so he had to be operated on straight away because he had compartment syndrome.
"We thought he was going to die because he was so severely ill - the consultant said he had never seen anyone go on two dialysis machines before.
"After surgery, his leg started to turn black because the muscles had died and was releasing toxins into his body - the only option was for the doctors to amputate the leg on his birthday, which was life saving.
"It’s absolutely devastating that his leg was amputated because he’s so young, active and has his five-year old daughter, Robyn, to look after, I know it’s just going to rock his world.
"As a family, we’re struggling to accept it but having his leg amputated is better than him not being with us anymore."
Dave has since remained in hospital, and has suffered from six separate cardiac arrests due to the sepsis weakening his body, leading to multiple organ failure.
But miraculously, cardiologists believe his heart is still in ‘perfect’ condition and he is slowly making progress.
Joiner Lee, also from Blackpool, said: “Dave’s got a long way to go, but the doctors have got him a stage we never thought he would be at.
"We couldn’t fault the hospital at all, they’ve dealt with Dave and our family brilliantly.
"It’s been the worst time of our lives, no one expected this to happen at all.
"Dave is struggling but is now a lot stronger.
"It’s a miracle that he’s pulled through - he’s a fighter.
"But for now, all we can do is wait and see what happens and I’ve learnt not to get my hopes up."
The family has been raising money through JustGiving, to help with Dave’s recovery in the future.
In just one day, they have raised more than £20,000, and have even received a £2,000 donation from singer Olly Murs.
Lee added: “We set up the fundraising page because he’s going to struggle not just mentally, but physically as well - a good prosthetic limb is not cheap and we will probably have to adapt his home.
"We want to thank everyone for their support so far with the donations - hopefully the financial side of things will be one less thing for him to worry about when he’s recovering.
"It’s going to be at least a year before he even thinks about going back to work, but DPD have been incredible and agreed to pay his wage and match the charity funds, and have even offered him a job in the office when he’s recovered.
"We want to bring light to the severity of sepsis because it happens so fast - if we can make more people aware of it we can hopefully save lives."
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