I LOST MY ARM AFTER SCRAPING KNUCKLES
Stephen tells how innocuous wound led to deadly sepsis which plagued him for 5 years
A DAD had an arm amputated and nearly died after suffering sepsis caused by grazed knuckles he got fixing his car.
Stephen Rae, 40, at first dismissed his injury as a minor cut – but the following month he awoke to discover his right forearm was extremely swollen, before being admitted to hospital. He was put on an IV drip for 10 days to treat near-fatal blood poisoning. The dad-of-six was allowed to go home but continued to be affected by sepsis and doctors had to amputate his lower arm to save him. And they later had to take the heart-breaking decision to amputate his upper right arm up to the shoulder. That still didn’t clear the infection and last month he lost what remained of the arm. Stephen, from Cumbernauld, told yesterday how the disability has left him relying on wife Kelly for almost everything, as he is unable even to put on socks. He is heartbroken at being unable to play a full role in raising his children. He is dad to Steven, 10, Robert, 16, Chantelle, 18, Carla and Sheryl, both 19, and Charley, 22. Stephen said: “This all started from me scraping my knuckles while working on the car. I didn’t think anything of it and just cleaned the cut as you normally would do. “Then a few weeks later I woke up and my right forearm and hand were severely swollen.” He told how sepsis has almost killed him three times since the original infection in May 2017. Stephen had another two stints in hospital that year, the second in intensive care. In January 2020, he went to hospital after feeling unwell. He said: “I went down to Monklands hospital in a taxi and the driver had to help me walk in. “I was sitting in the waiting room then I remember lying on my side on the floor. There were doctors and nurses running towards me. “The next thing I know, I’m waking up in Wishaw hospital two weeks later after being in an induced coma. “They had removed my right forearm.” The infection continued to return until doctors took the ultimate step last month. Stephen added: “You think the sepsis is away and then it comes straight back. It’s scary how quickly it creeps up. “I was faced with never seeing my kids and wife again or having my arm amputated. There’s just no comparison so I told the doctors to take it off. “I’m right-handed so it’s been a massive adjustment. “The amount of care I need is unreal. It means my wife has had to pick up all the slack. It’s the little things that I can’t help with that I find the most challenging, like the hoovering or the dishes. “Having your arm taken off also really affects your balance. My wife has been left to do everything for me and the kids. We’d be lost without her. She’s an absolute angel.” Stephen is now fundraising to buy a prosthetic limb. He said: “It would mean the absolute world to me to get a prosthetic as I could get back to being a hands-on dad rather than feeling like I’m watching from the sidelines.”