I suffered a tiny cut on my hands – it almost KILLED me after flesh-eating bacteria left holes in my hand
I suffered a small cut on my hands – it almost killed me after flesh-eating bacteria left holes in my hand
- Carpenter’s minor injury soon developed into a form of strep A and cellulitis
- The flesh-eating bacterial infection turned his fingers purple and black
A carpenter had holes in his hands and was missing his ring finger after a small cut became infected.
Apprentice Jamie Constable, from Lancashire, was used to getting scrapes on his hands as part of his job.
Normally the 21-year-old would ignore them.
His own mother even urged him to seek medical attention after a handsaw fell on his hand in November 2022 and scraped his knuckle.
However, he ignored her wishes.
Jamie Constable, 21, (pictured right) would normally ignore cuts, but one day after a handsaw fell and severed his knuckle, the minor injury quickly developed into a flesh-eating bacterial infection that turned his fingers purple and black. His ring finger was amputated to save his hand (pictured left)
But four days later, Mr Constable’s sister, Catherine, noticed he was throwing up and completely ‘out of it’.
Soon after, his whole arm flared up and doubled in size and started leaking pus.
Mr Constable was rushed to Bradford Royal Infirmary where doctors confirmed that his hand was infected with cellulite.
The life-threatening bacterial infection β caused by common bacteria that live on the skin and enter wounds β can kill tissue and lead to gangrene.
He was rushed in for emergency surgery to flush out the infection.
Mr Constable said: ‘If I hadn’t had surgery then I would have died within hours of blood poisoning.
“I really didn’t think anything was wrong when I saw the cut because it was so small, but now I was fighting for my life.”
After the procedure, he has holes in his hand and fingers where “the infection has destroyed all the tissue.”
Mr Constable added: ‘In an attempt to save parts of my hand they had to amputate my ring finger and scrape the skin off my thigh to perform a skin graft.
βI have webbed hands and an electric shock going through my hand through the amputated finger.
“It has completely turned my life upside down and I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy – all because of a minor cut.”
Mr Constable recalled taking a turn and added: ‘I don’t really remember much as I wasn’t around at all.
βAll I can remember was hoping they can fix this because I wanted to get back to work – that was my main concern.
“It was so badly infected that my fingers started turning purple and black because the infection was cutting off blood flow.”
Mr. Constable adapts to a holey hand and an amputated finger.
Jamie Constable, 21, an apprentice carpenter from Lancashire was used to getting scrapes and cuts on his hands as part of his job
He said, ‘Knowing I’m going back to work one day will get me through it because I love it so much.
βI still have a few more surgeries to reconstruct my hand as I still don’t have a tendon in my index finger – but time will get me there.
“My advice to everyone is to be patient because it doesn’t take a few months to heal from a trauma like this.
“Give yourself time and be kind – and above all, be thankful for the gift of life.”