Tiny scratch from my dog almost killed me

PET OWNER TELLS OF SEPSIS HELL

A DOG lover is lucky to be alive after a scratch from his pooch caused him to develop sepsis. Jon Lewthwaite, 50, was playing with his children and their Cavachon Penny, when the excitable hound left a small scratch on his arm. Within days, the dad of seven was fighting for his life – and nearly lost his arm – after he developed sepsis. IT manager Jon, from Thurso, noticed his arm had started to swell a few days after the scratch – but he was stunned when doctors told him he needed to be admitted to hospital and that he risked losing his arm. After three weeks in hospital, five operations and a skin graft, he is now starting to regain use of his left arm – but says he and Penny are still pals. Jon said: “Penny got too excited, jumped up to hug me. I put my arm around her and her paw scratched me on the left arm. “I thought nothing of it – it’s a little dog scratch. The next day, I realised my arm started

BY ALIKI KRATEROU reporters@dailyrecord.co.uk to swell. It’s easy enough to accept there was an infection but realising it was making me sick was something we couldn’t see coming.

“I was in agony, I felt like someone was trying to stomp on my arm – my symptoms were getting worse very quickly. 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 on the couch.”