Former paratrooper left in coma covered in massive blisters after infection picked up after being licked by a dog
David Money, 51, suffered double-organ failure and lost a toe to the rare infection
AN ex-soldier was left fighting for his life after being infected with flesh-eating bacteria when he was licked by a dog.
David Money, 51, was in a coma for six weeks after the bacteria caused his skin to erupt into tennis-ball sized blisters all over his body.
The former paratrooper from Manchester suffered double-organ failure and lost a toe to the infection which ate his skin down to the bone.
The dog lover, who has seven pet whippets, regularly attends racing events and is thought to have caught the infection after one dog licked a small scratch on his skin.
"I'm disabled. I can barely walk, I've lost my job and I nearly died,” he said.
"My life has been completely turned upside down and to think it's is from a bacteria from a dog - maybe one of my dogs - is mind blowing thing.
"The pain I went through was indescribable. To actually sweat with pain is absolutely horrendous.”
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He was in hospital for five months battling the infection which saw his legs suffer injuries usually only seen in people who suffer 90 per cent burns.
The HGV driver pulled through - but not before the bacterial infection destroyed his kidneys, leaving him needing dialysis every other day.
Medics said his brush with death was caused by rare bacterial infection capnocytophaga - a bug found in dogs’ mouths and saliva.
But he insists the ordeal has not diminished his love for dogs and has refused to get rid of the whippets he shares with partner Julie Crosby, 44.
David - who can't remember most of his ordeal - said: "We are far more aware of the dogs now but I would never get rid of my dogs.
"I can't believe what has happened to me, but I cherish them."
David started to experience flu-like symptoms in April and was about to settle down to sleep when he felt extreme pain in his legs.
Former hospital administrator Julie took him to hospital when he started to feel a piercing and burning sensation on his skin.
Dark marks also appeared on his face.
Medics diagnosed an infection and his condition rapidly deteriorated, until he was screaming out in pain and his skin started to "bubble".
Huge blisters formed all over his body and the pressure caused his hands to triple in size.
Just hours after being admitted Julie was told David's best chance of survival would be if he was put into a coma.
She was told to say her "final goodbyes" in case he didn't pull through.
"It was so shocking how quickly things happened," said Julie, who worked in admin at a hospital before giving up to care for Dave.
"They didn't think he was going to make it through the night.
"He told me he loved me and I said the same and we said our goodbyes.
"He was gasping for breath and had this face mask on. It was devastating."
He was in a coma for six weeks while doctors diagnosed and controlled the infection.
Doctors had to scrub off necrotic skin and David lost a toe and his kidneys to the infection.
Julie added: "It smelled like dead people smell. Some of the skin was necrotic even down to the bone."
He was transferred to an acute kidney ward and was finally released from hospital in September.
While doctors have no way of pinpointing whether he caught the infection from one of Julie's dogs, as soon as he woke up, she asked him if he wanted her to re-home them.
But he said he wanted to keep their whippets Charlie, Shelby, Peanue, Bridie, Mitzie, Pickle and Michael.
Julie said: "It was the dogs that got me through the stress."
It is expected David will go on the transplant list next year.
Julie is planning to get tested to see if she is a match to give him a kidney.
They still have all their dogs, but are more careful about letting them lick them, and are raising awareness of the dangers.
"Well tell them to get down now when they jump up," said Dave.