A mum nearly had to have her leg amputated after being bitten by an unknown bug on girls' holiday in Benidorm.
Faye Wilkes, 41, was sunbathing by the pool when she felt a sharp nip and she swiped a bug off her left foot.
A red mark instantly appeared, but the personal assistant thought nothing of it and spritzed herself with insect repellent to stop her getting any more bites.
But four days into her girls' trip Faye found herself unable to walk as her entire leg swelled up.
The mum-of-one claims she was "turned away" from a hospital in Spain as medics thought she was a "typical drunk Brit", SWNS reports.
Faye, who lives in Kent, had to cut her break short to seek medical help in the UK after her leg blistered and started to become infected.
She was rushed from Gatwick Airport to East Surrey Hospital, where doctors told her she had contracted a flesh-eating infection, likely to be necrotising fasciitis.
It happens when bacteria enters a wound, causing sepsis, and doctors warned she might need to have her leg amputated.
After being pumped with seven different antibiotics and spending more than four months in intensive care, the infection cleared up.
But Faye is still traumatised by the ordeal and is recovering from the holiday nightmare at home.
She said: "We recently lost our dad to lung cancer and to cheer ourselves up, unwind and relax my sister, Carrie, and I booked a holiday.
"We hoped to spend a week soaking up the sun and sipping cocktails, but it turned into a holiday from hell after I was bitten by an insect.
"From the moment my leg began hurting, I knew something was wrong, but I didn't want to waste anybody's time.
"After it started scabbing and I had difficulty walking, I knew I needed to get help, but the Spanish doctors just fobbed me off as another 'British drunk' - I was horrified.
"I trusted my gut instinct and flew home straight away and I'm glad I did, as doctors in the UK said I would have died - or would have at least needed my limb amputated - if I didn't get treatment within 24 hours.
"Although I'm thankful I've been able to keep my leg, I'm still battling with the after-effects that this mystery bug has left me, but I'm getting there - slowly but surely."
Faye had been caring for her dad Raymond who was battling lung cancer and heart failure when he passed away in April, 2016 aged 66.
She thinks she was bitten on the left leg by a spider or mosquito.
Faye said: "I felt like I had been stabbed in my left leg. It instantly began burning up and I thought it was probably just a silly mosquito bite, so I went into the pool to cool it off.
"But as I went in, my leg started to burn up more and my toes began bleeding, which I thought was odd, but dismissed it until the next morning, as I didn't want to waste anybody's time."
After spending her evening walking about she had excruciating pain in her foot so Faye decided to go home early and wait until the next day to seek help.
Faye said: "I woke up in the middle of the night was shooting pain up and down my leg and when I tried to stand up to get to the bathroom, I collapsed on the floor."
After suffering through the night, Faye called a taxi and went straight to hospital for an x-ray.
She said: "I was in so much pain and when the doctor came back to tell me the x-ray looked like I just had a sprained ankle, I was furious.
"I think they thought I was just another British drunk who had fallen over, but even though I told them I hadn't sprained it, they sent me back to the hotel with a pair of crutches."
Faye left her sister in Benidorm and flew home, but had to be wheeled on to her flight.
She begged the cabin crew to phone her an ambulance to pick her up from Gatwick airport when she arrived.
She was admitted to intensive care in Royal Surrey Hospital and diagnosed with sepsis.
Doctors told Faye that if hadn't got to the hospital she could have been dead within 24 hours.
