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.

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