A dog lover is lucky to be alive after a scratch from his pooch caused him to develop sepsis.
Jon Lewthwaite, 50, was playing with his children and their Cavachon Penny, when the excitable hound left a small scratch on his arm.
Within days, the dad of seven was fighting for his life – and nearly lost his arm – after he developed sepsis.
IT manager Jon, from Thurso, noticed his arm had started to swell a few days after the scratch – but he was stunned when doctors told him he needed to be admitted to hospital and that he risked losing his arm.
After three weeks in hospital, five operations and a skin graft, he is now starting to regain use of his left arm – but says he and Penny are still pals.
Jon said: “Penny got too excited, jumped up to hug me. I put my arm around her and her paw scratched me on the left arm.
“I thought nothing of it – it’s a little dog scratch. The next day, I realised my arm started to swell. It’s easy enough to accept there was an infection but realising it was making me sick was something we couldn’t see coming.
“I was in agony, I felt like someone was trying to stomp on my arm – my symptoms were getting worse very quickly. It wasn’t until after I got discharged I had time to think about it and thought, ‘What just happened?’.
“Penny was definitely missing me and the first thing she did when I got home was jump up for a cuddle – we are best friends.
“Of course, I ‘forgave’ her, it wasn’t a deliberate act on her part. We still love cuddling together on the couch.”
