Man nearly dies after flesh-eating bacteria from 'tiny cut' leaves holes in hand
When Jamie Constable started his career as an apprentice carpenter, he quickly realised that general scrapes and cuts were all part of the hands-on job.
As he thought it was nothing to worry about, he continued on without giving them a second thought - until one day, when his life was hanging in the balance.
Jamie, 21, recalls a general handsaw falling on top of his hand, and while he only suffered a tiny cut on his knuckle, this soon developed into a flesh-eating bacterial infection.
"I have holes in my hand and fingers where the infection has destroyed all the tissue. In a bid to save parts of my hand, they had to amputate my ring finger and scrape skin off my thigh to do a skin graft," Jamie said.
Jamie, 21, works as a carpenter and didn't think twice about the tiny cut (Jam Press)
The near-death experience left him with no ring finger and holes in his hand (Jam Press)"I'm left with webbed hands and an electric shock feeling going through my hand from the amputated finger. It's completely turned my life upside down and I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy - all because of a small cut."
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Jamie recalls the incident happening in November 2022, and when he showed his mum, Anne, 64, she immediately told him to get it looked at. Ignoring her wishes, he went about his week, but four days later, his sister, Catherine, 40, noticed Jamie vomiting and slipping out of consciousness.
Then his entire arm swelled up, doubled in size and was leaking pus.
Jamie was rushed to Bradford Royal Infirmary - but in a state of deliriousness, it all became a blur. He said: "I don't really remember much, as I was completely out of it.
His hand swelled in size and he began losing consciousness at home (Jam Press)
Jamie was 'hours from dying' when medics stepped in to emergency operate (Jam Press)"All I can remember thinking was that I hope they can sort this out, as I wanted to get back to my job - that was my main concern. It was so severely infected that my fingers were starting to turn purple and black because the infection was cutting off the blood flow."
As doctors examined his condition, they confirmed his hand was being attacked by a form of strep A and cellulitis, both flesh-eating bacterial infections. With the hopes of saving not only his hand, but his life, he was rushed into surgery to cut open the wound and flush the infection out.
Jamie, from Lancashire, said: "If I hadn't gone into surgery then, I would have died in the next few hours due to blood poisoning. I genuinely didn't think there was anything wrong when I noticed the cut, as it was so tiny, but now I was fighting for my life."
Jamie's mum told him to get the injury checked out but he ignored her (Jam Press)
He often has nightmares about his hand and needs surgery to reconstruct it (Jam Press)Over the next 10 days, Jamie had his hand repeatedly flushed and placed into an iodine bath to help squeeze as much liquid out of his wound as possible. After three weeks, the infection had passed, and while he's now had to adapt to a hand with holes and a missing finger, he's thankful to be alive.
Jamie is hoping to raise awareness about the dangers of leaving small cuts and scrapes before it's too late. He added: "I've tried to stay positive, but there's definitely been a few war days where I've been inside and stuck not being able to do anything.
"I can't see my friends or go to work, which has got me really depressed and I often have nightmares about my hand. But knowing I'll be going back to work one day is getting me through, as I love it so much.
"I need to have a few more surgeries to reconstruct my hand, as I still have no tendon in my index finger - but time will get me there. My advice to anyone is just to be patient, as it doesn't take a couple of months to heal from a trauma like this. Allow yourself time and be kind - and most importantly, be thankful for the gift of life."
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