P1.He Thought It Was Just the Flu — Two Days Before His 21st Birthday, Doctors Took Both His Legs to Save His Life.P1

A healthy young man had both his legs amputated after what he thought was the flu turned out to be a near-fatal infection.  In December 2022, Levi Dewy from Derby, England, was a “fit and healthy” 20-year-old when he started to experience breathing difficulties and flu-like symptoms, including a sore throat, body aches and a fever. Levi took medication at home, but when he remained sick, his mother, Lara, rushed him to Royal Derby Hospital.

“I don’t know if it was mum’s intuition, but his breathing wasn’t right,” Lara told South West News Service via The Daily Mail. “He had a high temperature that wouldn’t come down and he was really drowsy, with no appetite. He just wasn’t my Levi.”Levi Dewy before getting sick.

At the hospital, doctors diagnosed Levi with pneumococcal pneumonia, a potentially serious bacterial lung disease that can spread through coughing or close contact. His health continued to deteriorate; he went into septic shock, suffering multiple organ failure.

Sepsis is “a serious condition in which the body responds improperly to an infection,” according to the Mayo Clinic. It can lead to septic shock, which is a dramatic drop in blood pressure that can damage the lungs, kidneys, liver and other organs. When the damage is severe, it can lead to death.

Levi was then transferred to Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, where he was placed in a medically induced coma. He was also placed on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, which supports patients with failing hearts and lungs by pumping oxygen throughout the body.

As his condition declined rapidly, doctors ultimately told Levi’s parents Lara and Neil that he had a 30% chance of survival.

“I’d never seen anything like it in my life,” Lara recalled. “’I thought it was something that only affected older people, or something you got from a cut. So when I saw him in the hospital bed and he was a mottled color and his legs were blue, you could see where the sepsis had got hold of him.” Levi’s infection was so severe that in January 2023, just two days before his 21st birthday, he underwent surgery to amputate both of his legs below the knee in order to save his life.

“I woke up and Christmas had passed — it was like my life had been flipped upside down,” Levi told the outlet. “I was relying on my family to tell me what had happened, it was such a blur.” “It was really difficult because I nearly died, and I’m so grateful to be here, but I had to wrap my head around spending the rest of my life without my legs,” he said.

Levi slowly started to recover but had to adjust and relearn everyday tasks without his legs.“I couldn’t even get changed by myself or sit up,” he explained. “And because I lost my feet, I had to learn how to drive using my hands. It’s those things people can’t really understand.”Levi Dewy after his leg amputations.

“I’m so lucky to have amazing support and I’m so thankful to be here — but getting sepsis has completely changed my life,” he said, adding that he’s optimistic about his future. Levi’s father, Neil, is now sharing their family’s journey in hopes of raising awareness about sepsis so others don’t end up in their situation.

“What we’ve learned is that sepsis affects younger people differently to older people,” Neil shared. “With older people, because their immune systems are more vulnerable, you can spot the symptoms more easily. But because Levi was fit and healthy, his immune system was masking the signs until it got to a point where his body could no longer cope and he deteriorated rapidly.”

“Please familiarize yourself with the symptoms so you know what to look out for,” he said.