A man was 'near death' and 'fighting for his life for a week' after a flesh-eating bug started to attack his body after he had surgery in Costa Rica.
Tanja Willis, 49, told of her family's horrific ordeal after they found out her brother was hospitalised in Costa Rica with a flesh eating disease. Colin Graw 47, from Parbold, went to the Caribbean after receiving an investment opportunity, and was due to come back to the UK at the end of January. During Colin's time there, he was scheduled in for a minor, day-long operation, one not likely to require him to stay the night. Colin was discharged that same day, but soon began experiencing intense and severe pain, LancsLive reports.
Four days later, he returned to hospital where doctors realised Colin was suffering from necrotising fasciitis, a rare but serious bacterial infection that affects the tissue beneath the skin and surrounding muscles and organs. Doctors then discovered the infection was so bad Colin had also contracted Fournier’s Gangrene, a type of necrotizing fasciitis that affects the scrotum, penis or perineum.
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The only way to treat this was for doctors and surgeons to remove the infected tissues via a long, intricate process until they could see healthy tissue. This led to many more wounds on Colin's body, leaving him in intense pain and discomfort, with no family around to support him.
Tanja said: "It's been absolutely horrific for him, he is in exceptional amounts of pain, he can't sit properly- he only had a 30% chance of survival because it's such a rare bacterial infection and there aren't many antibiotics that can treat these types of infections. He is in Costa Rica, he's in the public hospital there, he's got no family, he's got his girlfriend but he was weeks in hospital where very few people spoke English, absolutely no visitors allowed, no family around dealing with what was a near death experience fighting for his life for week- it's just been awful."
After trial and error, doctors in the hospital were able to find the antibiotics that would help Colin to fight off the flesh eating disease but he is still not in the clear with many wounds prone to more infection. Now, Colin is still forced to stay miles away from home as an out-patient, going into the hospital three times a week to keep infections at bay.
Keeping in contact with him throughout this whole process has been difficult for Tanja. Desperate to see her brother and provide whatever support she possibly could, Tanja flew to Costa Rica at the end of January but was only given limited time to hold her brother's hand. Other than the fleeting visit, she has had to rely on technology to stay in touch.
Tanja said: "They're still trying to fight off infections that are highly resistant to antibiotics. He is too ill to travel so we're not in a position to get him home. Since the visit, I've been in contact with Katya, his partner who he is now at home with and we communicate via Whatsapp and social media so that I can get regular updates on his progress and treatments and just to keep him motivated to stay strong so it's been quite difficult but thank goodness for modern technology.
"For weeks, he was not allowed a phone in hospital so we had very limited contact with him and could only get in touch with him through the doctors. It's quite difficult for him to communicate because he is very tired, on pain medication, still on antibiotics. He's very weak and tired- initially it was very difficult because he was on such high levels of medication."
Being away from Colin at a time like this has taken its toll on Tanja and she says she has struggled to keep in touch due to language barriers.
She continued: "I just feel so helpless - the language from receiving information and really understanding what's going, sometimes things get lost in translation. I think he was exceptionally unlucky to contract bacteria like that. He was on the beach one day, and three days later he was in hospital fighting for his life, it happened so quickly. It was just supposed to be a day procedure - he just got an infection and it literally escalated from something minor to him being lying on his deathbed."
Despite being cleared of necrotising fasciitis infection, the recovery process is expected to be long and with that comes the added expense of medical bills. Currently, the medical costs have amounted to around £80,000 but with the further medical treatment required it has been estimated the total cost will be as much as £150,000. Without it, Colin will not get well or get home.
To help him keep his focus on his recovery and not the pressures of paying his mounting bills, Tanja set up a GoFundMe page, pleading for help via donations. Already, the page has raised just over £9,000 in six days. Tanja said: "Colin has to fund all of this himself- we as a family being so far away can't help with the medical treatments or even help looking after him but this is why I'm appealing for help.
"I want him to be able to focus on his recovery and not have to worry about finances and how he's actually going to recover from the financial impact of this. I spoke to him yesterday and he said to me over the phone, he is absolutely shell shocked and overwhelmed by all the messages of support he has received from all over the world. We can't help him physically but what we can do is lighten the financial burden for him and I am so grateful to all of the donations we have received from people all over."
