Father who lost four limbs and half his face to flesh-eating bug recalls heartbreaking moment his son could no longer bear to kiss him

A young father who lost four limbs and half his face to a flesh-eating bug has recalled the devastating moment his son looked at him and recoiled in horror.

Alex Lewis was left fighting for his life after a common cold triggered a strep A infection, blood poisoning and toxic shock syndrome.

Doctors gave him a three per cent chance of survival, but the 35-year-old battled against the odds to make a remarkable recovery.

Over the past two years he has endured countless gruelling operations to rebuild his face and learned how to walk again with prosthetics.

Now, his extraordinary story will be told in a new documentary which begins filming just days after he was almost eaten alive.

 

Speaking on ITV's This Morning before the documentary airs tonight, he describes how his young son struggled to come to terms with his drastically altered appearance.

So shocked was Sam, then three, that he could no longer bring himself to kiss his father's disfigured face, meaning the pair struggled to bond.

He told presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Phillip Schofield: 'It was an awful period. I was a stay at home father for more than two years before I fell ill.

'It was fantastic, we had a very close bond. Then all of a sudden you’re thrust into something you don’t have any control over.

 He continued: 'Your face is completely unrecognizable and for a little boy to look at that, having seen his father upright, legs, arms, looking normal.

'It was very hard – for the both of us – we both struggled.

'He’s great now, completely fine about it. He’ll give me a hug, a kiss.'

Mr Lewis added the experience has made him understand what is important to him and has revived his enthusiasm for being alive.

His nightmare ordeal began in November 2013 when he caught a common cold, and tests later revealed he had contracted Group A streptococcus.

The normally harmless bacteria is usually filtered out by the body but in this case, it developed into septicemia (blood poisoning) and toxic shock syndrome.

Mr Lewis's major organs shut down and he spent a week in a coma as the deadly bacteria wreaked havoc through his body.

After his feet, fingertips, arms, lips, nose and part of his ears turned black, doctors were forced to amputate both his legs above the knee and his left arm.

He also lost part of his nose, his lips and underwent a pioneering 16-hour operation to reconstruct his remaining arm in a bid to save it.

 culled

MARTIN FREY...........THE WORLDS MOST ADVENTUROUS MAN????

 When Martin Frey set out to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, he had no inkling it'd be the start of an 11-year mission that would take him across continents, through oceans and potentially win him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

"I was simply doing a safari thing and thought Kilimanjaro would be a fun challenge," says the 56-year-old from Utah. "It was just an add-on to the trip."

Four years later, after he successfully scaled Alaska's Denali, he got the idea of tackling the highest summits in every continent.

In the years that followed, he tackled these "seven summits" one by one: South America's Mount Aconcagua, Asia's Mount Everest, Europe's Mount Elbrus and Oceania's Carstensz Pyramid.

He completed the mission in 2012 when he made it to the top of Antarctica's Mount Vinson.

Two months later, he decided to tackle the seven seas.

He started by sailing across the North Atlantic -- from Gibraltar to Saint Martin -- in 2013 on his Lagoon 560 catamaran, AMARA. After conquering his last mountain, Frey sought out an activity that would allow him to include his wife and seven-year-old daughter, Lily

 

 

 

 

 

 This makes him, he says, the first person to have ever climbed the world's seven summits and sailed the seven seas (Guinness World Records is in the process of corroborating).

 

 

TEN COMMANDMENTS OF BUYING LAND IN NIGERIA

Everyday thousands of Nigerians at home and abroad hope to buy lands in Nigeria, more especially in popular cities such as Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Abeokuta, Ibadan, etc but the common reoccurring theme that filters through their minds is how to safeguard their money so that they won’t be duped or lose their lands coupled with the terrifying stories that normally accompany the smooth transfer of these lands because of the prevalent nature of Land Scam artists and dubious Real Estate companies that specialize in defrauding prospective land purchasers.

With this in mind, I have drawn up 10 Land Purchasing Commandments for any Prospective new Land Buyer that must be strictly followed by anyone who intends to purchase a property in Nigeria more especially in Lagos so as to prevent Land fraudsters from duping them off their hard earned money and losing their lands to Unscrupulous people.

1. Thou Shalt have a Budget: The No.1 cardinal sin of most intending buyers is not having a budget before they set out to buy a land. No matter the amount you have saved in your bank account, always take the time to research the other fees that are usually associated with buying a land and they come in these form. a. Legal fees 5% of the cost of the land b. Agency Fees 5-10% of the cost of the land c. Survey Plan (usually about N100,000-N300,000) depending on the location of the land and state. d. Cost of signing the documents by land owners (A very strange tradition in Lagos but nonetheless something you cannot escape paying) e. Cost of putting up a fence to secure your land immediately you purchase it f. Cost of perfecting your documents with the Government at the Land Registry such as a C of O, Governors Consent, Ratification fees, Survey Land information, etc. Once you have done the maths to know all these hidden fees that are associated with buying a land, it will adequately guide you on the location and type of land that would suit your pocket.

2. Thou Shalt not buy a Land without demanding for the Documents that the Owner(s) Possess: Honestly it baffles me when people call me to tell me that they are in one deep problem or the other because they bought lands without knowing the documents the Seller possessed and because of this horrible mistake, they are afraid that these Land Grabbers will attempt to take over their lands or they will get a notice from the Land Bureau Office that they are encroaching on illegal government lands and they must vacate. To me it’s like attempting to buy a car from an auto dealer or independent seller without asking him to show you his driving licence and car papers? You know what will happen to you when you are caught driving without proof of ownership from the previous seller. The same rule applies to buying a land. Anybody trying to transfer land or property to you must show you the documents he executed with the previous owner so as to show proof of Ownership or else anything you are buying from him is a stolen property and it’s as simple as that. I hear daft stories like, “Oh, it’s my Aunty that is selling the land and I know her or it’s my Colleague at work selling the land so I just paid money into their account because I know them previously”. Really!!! Husband and Wives draw up wills, Parents document gifts they give to their children, why then would you just pay for a land to a non-blood relative because you know them previously. For those of you intending to do something like this soon, please stop it because you might be buying a problematic land that has no proof of ownership previously and when something goes wrong, there would be no evidence to back up your claims that you bought it legally without any issue.

3. Thou Shalt Carry Out a Proper Land Verification Search: Ultimately Commandment 2 leads to Commandment 3 Unequivocally. Do not buy any land without performing a Land Check on the Owner, the Land and the Documents the Seller possesses. There are so many things to cross reference at this stage that is why you must take your time and be patient because it is your money that is at stake not the seller or Agent’s money. If you fail to take this step, then you would be left alone to wallow in your own self pity and misery because the seller would be long gone with your money. Do not let the occasional grumblings from sellers or agents weigh you down or push you to do something rash such as “A lot of people are rushing this land and if you don’t pay now, the land may be gone” etc. Don’t listen to them. The land was there before you decided to pay interest in acquiring it and it would still be there after you do your search. Some sellers and agents are just eager to line up their pockets with your money so they throw you that line to you to scare you. The reasons you must do the search is because you must verify the owner, how he got the land previously, why he wants to sell, what is prompting him to sell whether there is any dispute or litigation and he wants to shift the burden to you or he has bought a very bad land and wants to dispose it quickly before the problem manifests into something bigger or he has wayward and unreliable documents that do not confer title or ownership to him, so he is looking for the nearest fool or unsuspecting buyer to pass that problem to. Also you will have to investigate the land to know whether it’s genuinely a good land, a land that isn’t under government acquisition or not, a land that is not subject to any communal or legal dispute, a land that doesn’t run afoul of government regulations, etc. And finally investigating all the documents the owner has and ought to have such as a Survey plan, deed of assignment, contract of sale, C of O, Governors Consent, Gazette, Letter of Allocation, Receipts, Deed of Transfer, Power of Attorney, etc. The check list is too much but it must be done so that you are satisfied 100% of the title. This is the only thing that will give you piece of mind and you must contract a land verification expert to do it to give you that extra comfort or peace of mind.

4. Thou Shalt always Involve Professionals in Land Matters before you buy a land: A lawyer, Surveyor and Architect are the 3 most important people you must get in touch with before you buy a land. The lawyer is the only one that can draw up your contract papers legally. Any other landed document drawn up by any other person is null and void and you would not be allowed to process your papers at the Land registry. Secondly, a Registered Surveyor is the only one that can draw up your survey plans. Without the survey plan you have no description of the land you intend to buy. Use only a registered surveyor please and finally, an Architect is the one who would advise you on the type of house you are to build and the cost of putting up that structure starting from the location of the land down to the type of soil. Don’t do self service. Engage professionals to guide you properly.

5. Thou Shalt not buy a Land without Viewing the land physically: No matter how beautiful or attractive the land being advertised appears please go there and look at it. Too many Real estate developers and Agents have scammed thousands of Nigerians using beautifully drawn flyers promoting lands that are equivalent to Aso rock estate in choice locations, only to realize that they are dump yards not fit for human habitation. Always find time to visit the place physically or send a trusted representative to view it. Don’t rely on just pictures and sweet words because there are so many other important things the picture or advert won’t tell you such as the neighborhood, light and water issues, the road leading to that place, amenities such schools or hospitals, transportation ease to and fro, market, etc. Make sure you check all these things before you finally commit yourself to buy a land.

6. Thou Shalt not buy a land that smells of trouble: No matter what happens in life, you must always trust your own personal instinct and 95% of the time, your conscience would never lie. The moment you visit a land for inspection, follow whatever your guts tell you. If your mind is shaky about the land, don’t push it; walk away because that land isn’t meant for you. If you see things that make you tremble or suspicious please walk away. If you see things like fenced lands that cannot be justified by the owner or no proof of ownership, no survey plan or its layout, you hear the land is a relocation land or there is a minor dispute that was just solved, so many family owners or sellers etc please kindly walk away and move on. You have just dodged a a silver bullet in your pocket. Don’t let anyone pressurize you to buy it. The signs that you see now might seem so small and irrelevant but trust me 5 years down the line it will begin to manifest seriously and the Agent or Seller who allayed your fears and coerced you to buy it would be long gone and you will be left on your own to deal with the resultant issues.

7. Thou Shalt not pay for any Landed Transaction in Cash: Don’t even dream of it. Everything must be properly documented from the cost of the land down to the Receipt or survey fees. This is the only thing that can save you from problem tomorrow in case you want to track down a fraudulent seller of land. I hear people giving land sellers cash to make them feel comfortable but it’s not right. Even if the signing fees is N50,000, try your personal best to document it through a recognized bank instrument. If push comes to shove, that tiny piece of evidence can be used in court to show when, how and the time the person collected the money and he cannot deny it. Most fraudulent sellers try to avoid this route by accepting partial cash instalment payments to cover up their tracks. Don’t do it.

8. Thou Shalt not ever listen to a land seller’s opinions about the title of land they possess without you verifying it: A lot of previous land purchasers are very guilty of this commandment and have become terrible victims in the aftermath of this issue. They listen to these land sellers who lie to them that the land has Government approved papers such a Gazette or C of O, etc but they do not have any shred of evidence. They lie that certain big shots have bought lands there and they are all deriving title from that government document legalizing their ownership of the land but there is none available that you can inspect physically. Because people are ignorant they believe them. How would you take the word of an illiterate over an educated professional? It makes no sense. Their only business with you is to show you the land, prove ownership and show you their documents. Any other thing that comes out of their mouth to sway you to buy is just plain lies so don’t fall for their tricks.

9. Thou Shalt put all their Landed Transaction Details in Writing: Another very common mistake most purchasers are culpable of. They pay for lands but there is no proof of the deed of assignment or contract of sale between the buyer and the seller. Absolute madness!!!! Some will say they haven’t received the receipt but they are waiting for the owner to come back so he would take them to meet the family he bought it from. Many I know don’t even have a survey plan. How do you prove ownership? How can you trace the owner? Some people tell me that it’s not a problem because they know where the person lives so he cannot run. Ok, what if he dies? How do you prove to his family or community that you bought the land validly from him? What if another person lays claim to that same land, how do you prove ownership? The 3 basic things a Buyer must have when they pay for a land is a Receipt, Deed of Assignment and a Survey Plan. Without these 3 things you have a very slim chance of proving ownership if anything goes wrong in future.

10. Thou Shalt take possession of the land you bought immediately: As soon as you buy it, try to take possession of it by constructing a small fence around it. You don’t have to do 9 coaches, just 2 or 3 is enough to demarcate your land so that any prospective buyer of the land knows that it has already being bought and should stay clear of it. Pour gravel or sand there, do a well on the site and visit it frequently. Hire a mai guard/ security guard to come on the land to watch over it till you have money to build something tangible. Don’t just leave it fallow and expect it to wait there for you when you are ready. Somebody else would end up encroaching on your land and steal it. I am talking from experience and that is how I threw away N2Million which was my total life savings back then when I bought my first land and left it there unattended to for 6 months hoping to come back there to do something when I have raised enough funds, only to see an uncompleted building on it fully fenced with gate man. The same land seller resold my land to another rich dude after he noticed I wasn’t doing anything there anytime soon and absconded. Let my pain and suffering be your own guide to wisdom so that it won’t happen to you too.

Culled from nairaland.com

WHEN YOUR HUSBANDS EX DOES YOUR WEDDING MAKE UP....................HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!

PICTURE OF THE DAY.........WHY YOU SHOULD RESPECT YOUR ELDERS...........LOL!!!!!!!

HEHEHHEEE............

UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN STUDENTS CALL FOR JUSTICE WITH HASH TAG FREE MOTE

Of the Greatest Nigerian Students

Ever Conscious Nigerian Students

What you are about to read is an exposition of the evil plans of the current University of Ibadan Management to turn the ever intelligent University of Ibadan students into PUPPETS. It is highly recommended that you follow this piece to the very end so you can fully understand what is about to happen, probably the biggest protest ever.

WHY and HOW DOES THIS CONCERN YOU?

In the words of Martin Luther King Jr, he said and I quote

The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the GOOD PEOPLE.

WHAT EXACTLY IS THE PROBLEM?

Operation Free Mote is a massive campaign against the continuous victimization of students by the University of Ibadan Management. It is now clear to all that the current administration led by Prof Olayinka has come into power just to use IRON BARS to cage UITES. There has been continuous attacks on students but the LAST STRAW THAT HAS NOW BROKEN THE CAMEL’S BACK is the case of MOTE, a 500 level student of the Petroleum Engineering Department who was unjustly rusticated for being part of a peaceful protest carried out by the residents of Independence Hall last semester.

The protest which saw over 500 katangites troop out after exceeding the elastic limit of their patience to peaceful request improvement in welfare activities of the Hall after the hall had suffered for over two weeks lack of water and power supply exclusively to the Independence Hall without any cogent explanation from the University management .

It was however surprising that after more than two weeks of neglect and lackadaisical approach to the issue, the University management found it as a sense of urgency to attend to the problem of independence hall that very morning of the protest. Just about one hour after the protest, the Dean of Students Affairs visited the hall and the already rusty pumping machine of the hall was repaired and water started gushing out once again, power supply which had almost become a thing of the past for the hall suddenly magically came back to life.

The question to ask at this point is WHY DID THE UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT WAIT FOR A PROTEST TO OCCUR BEFORE THEY COULD HEAR THE YEARNINGS OF KATANGITES.

SHOULD KATANGITES HAVE KEPT SILENT OVER THAT MATTER AND MAYBE TILL TODAY THEY WOULDN’T STILL HAVE HAD LIGHT AND WATER...

WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE PROTEST?

After the protest, the hall warden of Independence Hall who obviously was the culprit that could not successfully manage the hall decided to look for a scapegoat to put his blame on. Instead of Dr. Ayagunna admitting his incompetence in managing the students who have confidence in his leadership, he decided to look for a SCAPE GOAT.

OVER 500 STUDENTS PROTESTED SO WHY MOTE PARTICULARLY?

That same period was getting close to the Independence Hall Elections, MOTE, who was obviously a man of the people was said to at that time have ambition to contest the Independence Hall Administrator General. Bearing in mind that MOTE was going to become the AG and will always advocate for the rights of fellow students at all times, Dr. AYAGUNNA allegedly beat his chest that he was going to “finish” MOTE. He started by processing an SDC letter for MOTE which automatically made the young man lose his qualification to contest as the Students’ Union constitution doesn’t allow anyone with a pending SDC case to contest.

He later went on to fully ensure that SDC panel rusticate MOTE. It is very shocking that Dr. AYAGUNNA who is supposed be a father over students was reportedly laughing and celebrating after MOTE had been rusticated. He was quoted to have said that “I HAVE STILL NOT FINSIHED DEALING WITH THAT BOY”. This makes it crystal clear that the case of Mote is a pure case of POLITICAL VICTIMIZATION.

HOW THIS AFFECTS US ALL - ADEWOLE’S TENURE VERSUS OLAYINKA’S

The current administration is seriously planning an underground mission to purportedly turn UI students into MORONS. The reason for this is simple, there are plans to increase the tuition fee very soon and the only way they can do this is by firstly “finishing” all student activists on campus. The management thereby has turned into a SCIENTIST conducting experiments with the FUTURE of NIGERIAN STUDENTS. The case of MOTE is first of such experiment and if the outcome becomes successful for them, many more experiments of students’ rustication will follow.

It is becoming evident that even Queen Idia and Obafemi Awolowo Halls are now two new laboratories for the experiment being conducted by the Prof. Olayinka administration. There have been serious outcries from Queen Idia Hall where our female students are being told to pay FINE for very unintelligent reasons. It only makes one wonder whether we are truly in a University that prides itself in training students that have SOUND SENSE OF JUDGMENT.

Where on EARTH are University students FINED 2000 naira for not laying their BEDS?

Where on EARTH are University students FINED 2000 naira for dirty clothes on their BEDS?

Where on EARTH are University students FINED for not using CARPETS in THEIR rooms?

Where on EARTH are University students FINED for not having a LAUNDRY BASKET?

Well these are the current happenings in the supposedly FIRST AND BEST university!

It is either you JOIN THE PROTEST TODAY AND LET’S FIGHT THIS EVIL ANTICS once and for all or REMAIN SILENT AND KEEP GETTING OPPReSSED.

Look at AWO HALL, the hall lacked water for more 6 weeks to the extent that our female students were fetching and drinking MUDDY water! The university never attended to these girls until the students, themselves, decided to come around and donate their personal money to buy a pumping machine. The pumping machine after contribution among concerned students was bought and fixed, the water system of the hall resurrected BUT just some days after, the University management are threatening to send out Union Executives to the SDC for buying and installing a pumping machine on behalf of the school. SOUND JUDGEMENT RIGHT? HOW VERY CRAZY?!

They have been ordered to go and remove the pumping machine fixed so residents of the Obafemi Awolowo Hall should not be surprised to go back to their old conditions BUT who will FIGHT FOR THESE STUDENTS if we ALLOW them VICTIMIZE MOTE RIGHT NOW?

THE FIGHT IS ON, WHAT YOUR PART SHOULD BE!

Today is the D-DAY, there is an ongoing massive mobilization across all institutions in OYO STATE to storm the University of Ibadan with the combined forces of ALUTA, and so the UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT can know that we are not babies. At our AGE, many of the great leaders of today were already ruling the country, and some wicked people here in the University trying are trying to suppress and oppress us at this age.

Are they actually training us to be leaders or PUPPETS AND WEAKLINGS OF TOMORROW?

In the words of a fellow comrade, if protest was an offence, most of them who are members of ASUU are supposed to have been SACKED by the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT by now.

Of course we know their history, the same set of people who protested over FREE CHICKEN and TURKEY in the time past are now the ones RUSTICATING students for PEACEFULLY DEMANDING improved welfare conditions.

A CLARION CALL TO YOU!

This is not a small fight, we have contacted both local and international media houses to showcase to the world the rot in the Nigerian Educational System, University of Ibadan as a case study.

We hereby call on students’ BLOGGERS, SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERTS, STUDENT WRITERS AND (campus) JOURNALISTS to take the campaign to a global view. Let them know what is happening in Nigeria, the University of Ibadan.

By the end of today, the #FREEMOTE should be TRENDING ON TWITTER, let the students in HARVARD University know that the supposedly first and best university in Nigeria won’t give you light, won’t give you water and when you stand up to request for it, they will give you an AWARD called SDC LETTER and rusticate you!

Yesterday it was Kunle Adepeju and Colleagues, TODAY, it is MOTE, Tomorrow It MAY BE YOU, it is hightime we stopped this insanity because the hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.

This protest will continuously LOCK DOWN the University of Ibadan until the following demands are met:

1. UNCONDITIONAL REINSTATEMENT of Tunji Ekpeti Michael with IMMEDIATE EFFECT

2. THE Students Disciplinary Committee should tender an UNQUALIFIED APOLOGY to Mr. Tunji Ekpeti Michael for the psychological trauma caused to him.

An injustice to one is an injustice to all.

Aluta continua

Signed.

Able Olayinka

 culled ...................