![\"\"](\"https:\/\/boreddaddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/alexlewis3-scaled-1.jpg\")
<\/a>Both Alex and Sam caught the flu, or at least they believed so. However, as the boy got better in a short period of time, Alex wasn\u2019t feeling fine even days after he experienced the flu-like symptoms.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we owned and lived in a pub and came into contact with lots of different people, I assumed it was a seasonal cold and thought it started off as man flu,\u201d Alex told\u00a0Metro<\/em>.<\/p>\n As he could feel something was very wrong, he went to the hospital where doctors told him he contracted a streptococcal infection (type A). Unfortunately, at that point, the infection penetrated deep into the tissue and the organs and caused sepsis. Alex had contracted shock syndrome, septicemia, and necrotizing fascitis \u2013 and his body was attacking itself from the inside out.<\/p>\n \u201cI called an ambulance, and within eight minutes, they were there. At the hospital, we went straight into resuscitation, and I was told to say goodbye. His kidneys were shutting down, and they were going to put him on life support,\u201d wife Lucy\u00a0told\u00a0The Guardian<\/em>.<\/p>\n Doctors\u2019 prognosis were dull. They told the family there were just three percent chance that Alex would survive as his face and body turned black.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were going to turn my life support off, but they wanted to give me one more night to see if I improved, and they wanted to give my family a chance to say goodbye,\u201d Alex told Metro.<\/p>\n \u201cI cannot imagine what Lucy and my mum were going through.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving spoken to them since it happened, I think they were more in shock as they couldn\u2019t believe something so incredibly invasive was happening so quickly,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t remember being in excruciating pain at this point, but my family remembers seeing me in absolute agony.\u201d<\/p>\n It was determined that a flesh-eating bacteria was poisoning his body so doctors had to amputate his left arm up to the elbow. Sadly, as months passed by, Alex lost all of his limbs and doctors were also forced to cut parts of his face in order to save his life.<\/p>\n \u201cI can remember seeing my legs in hospital and how they were getting blacker and blacker,\u201d Alex told\u00a0The Guardian<\/em>. \u201cThe blackness was creeping up towards my waist. I don\u2019t remember seeing my left arm in that condition, but I can remember my legs vividly.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt would take me about an hour to eat a sandwich at night, and that was with the help of the nurse,\u201d he told the\u00a0Daily Mail.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThe last available skin for surgery was on my shoulder,\u201d he explained. \u201cSo they replaced the temporary flap with that. All my other skin had to be used for grafts or was scarred.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHaving my bottom and top lip done at the same time like this was a world first. It\u2019s one piece of skin, and it was like if you imagine placing a bag in your mouth and then sewing around the edges. After the original operation, I had to have them every three or four months.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking at his father, and how different he was, Sam was afraid to approach closer to him, but Lucy found a way to explain to him why his dad looked like that, which wasn\u2019t easy as Sam was just two years old at the time.<\/p>\n After spending months at the hospital Alex could finally go home. The good thing was that doctors managed to safe the elbow of his right arm which allowed him to have a prosthetic and be able to use his arm. Eventually, he could speak again as his lips surgery was a huge success.<\/p>\n \u201cThat one elbow is his whole independence,\u201d Lucy said.<\/p>\n \u201cI had to relearn everything,\u201d Alex\u00a0added. \u201cFrom learning to eat, drink, put my clothes on, to learn to use prosthesis, and to self propel a manual wheelchair.\u201d<\/p>\n Today, Alex is involved in a number of tech projects which help ease the lives of disabled people. Among the rest, he has tested solar-powered, battery-assisted four-wheeled handles which have been designed by masters students at Southampton University.<\/p>\n Despite his condition, he\u2019s living a quality life and is doing a lot of things, such as kayaking and climbing. In 2019, he climbed one of Africa\u2019s tallest mountains using a specially-adapted buggy.<\/p>\nInstead of improving, his condition worsened and he became feverish and noticed blood in his urine.<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/a>As Alex lost his lips, plastic surgeon Alexandra Crick took skin from his shoulder in an attempt to fix his mouth.<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/a>