A mum-of-two who was left in a coma with a deformed leg after catching a flesh-eating bug while out on a holiday run has made a miraculous recovery.
Keen jogger Lou Trott initially thought nothing of it when she tripped and cut her knee while exercising in Mallorca in summer 2019.
But when she later went for a swim in the sea, flesh-eating bacteria called necrotising fasciitis managed to enter her system.
Following her return to England, the mum-of-two, 51, developed sepsis, suffered multiple organ failure and had to be put in a medically induced coma for roughly a week.
Doctors had to operate on Lou's leg multiple times in order to remove the harmful bacteria.
She had to learn to walk again - a process that took several months - and is due to undergo further operations in the future to tighten up skin on her leg.
Lou recently opened up about the gruelling ordeal, revealing the pain was almost unbearable and felt like "a swarm of bees" on her leg.
But she says the thought of her kids without a mum was what pulled her through.
"It's been horrific - I couldn't believe it was me there lying down, dying," Lou, from Westbury, Wilts., said.
"The consultant said 70% of patients who had what I had die.
"The skin graft felt like a swarm of bees or wasps landed on my leg and all stung me at the same time.
"No matter what pain killers they gave me - I could still feel the pain. There's a lot to live for - I didn't want my children to be without a mum."
After returning home from holiday, Lou began to feel unsteady on her legs and soon called the GP believing she was dying.
Doctors soon released the severity of Lou's health upon her arrival and called for an ambulance.
Although her memories are still fuzzy, Lou said she remembered hearing people crying while she waited to be seen in Bath RUH.
She said: "The experience in ICU, although the nursed and doctors were amazing, the experience was really really traumatic.
"I could hear nurses talking to my family - hearing them talking about amputation. I didn't know what was real and what wasn't."
"I was lying there and all I could hear was a lady crying next to me - saying to her husband 'I wasn't ready for you to go.'
"I thought I was going to the 'death section' too - I was so frightened."
Lou went into an induced coma on July 19 - and believes she woke up on or around the July 25.
Once she was able to stand, Lou had to learn how to walk again and at first, she could only manage two or three steps at a time.
But the brave mum-of-two says she won't let the experience stop her from enjoying exercise again.
She's already started running to help her get over her PTSD and has already completed several challenges for charity, including a half-marathon.
"I saw this challenge for a running for prostate cancer," she added.
"My dad died four years ago from prostate cancer so this was close to my heart.
"When I saw that I thought - god saved my life, I want to give something back to help other charities and hopefully they'll never be in the same situation my dad was in.
"My fitness saved me. That's why I always think I've got to stay fit. I used to cry when I was running because I couldn't believe I was doing it."
