An IT manager from Swindon is lucky to be alive after a scratch from his over-excited dog caused him to develop sepsis.
Jon Lewthwaite, 50, was playing with his children and their three-year-old Cavachon named Penny when he was dealt the wound. Within days he was fighting for his life in hospital and nearly lost his arm.
The dad-of-seven, originally from Thurso, Scotland, noticed his arm had started to swell a few days after getting the scratch and decided to get it checked out. But he was stunned when doctors told him he urgently needed to be admitted to hospital and that there was a very real possibility he could lose his arm.
But after five operations and three weeks in hospital, he is now just starting to regain the use of his left arm. Despite everything he has been through, Jon says he and Penny are still best pals.
Recalling the incident, Jon said: ‘One day my dog Penny got too excited, jumped up to hug me, I put my arm around her to scoop her and her paw scratched me on the left arm.
‘I thought nothing of it, it’s a little dog scratch, it happens, so I carried on. The next day I realised my arm started to swell and after speaking to my partner we decided to get it checked out.
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‘We were at the hospital, discussing dinner plans, we weren’t expecting what was going to happen. When the doctors told me it was caused by a scratch I couldn’t believe it.
‘It’s easy enough to accept there was an infection but realising it was making me sick was something we couldn’t see coming. It was a bit of a shock and my other half was incredibly worried.
‘It wasn’t until after I got discharged I had time to think about it and thought “what just happened?”
‘Penny was definitely missing me and the first thing she did when I got home was jump up for a cuddle- we are best friends.
‘Of course I “forgave” her, it wasn’t a deliberate act on her part, we still love cuddling together in the couch.’
As his symptoms were getting worse, Jon decided to go to the A&E and started to suffer from a very high temperature and unbearable pain as he waited.
He was quickly admitted and his tests showed his kidneys function was starting to fail- a clear sign of sepsis.
His resting heart rate was 125 beats per minute and his temperature was 38.3 degrees and his swollen arm began to seriously hurt.
Jon added: ‘I was in agony, I felt like someone was trying to stomp on my arm- my symptoms were getting worse very quickly.’
He was then diagnosed with compartment syndrome, a condition common in athletes, which meant the pressure of the swelling was so great it began to cut off blood supply to the arm.
Medics at the Royal United Hospital in Bath had to perform emergency surgery to save his arm, where they cleared the infection and left the wound open.
Jon had to stay in the hospital for three weeks and undergo five operations in total, including two for a partial thickness skin graft.
He said: ‘There was a large infection that had gone beyond the skin, to some of the muscle. They had to wash it all out and leave it open.
‘Although it’s pretty much healed, I still got a problem with the tendon, and still learning how to use it. It will come back but it will take months – I cant use it for anything right now.
‘It was fortunate that the time I went to A&E they were able to see me so quickly, identify the infection and immediately give me antibiotics.’
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