A MAN was put into a coma and had his legs amputated after burning his thumb on a frying pan.
Max Armstrong, 40, burnt himself while on holiday in December 2024 and “didn’t think much of the injury” it until it was too late.
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The Colorado native was camping with his friends at Kiowa, in the centre of the state, and was only trying to cook pasta when he sustained the injury.
Describing himself as constantly “being outdoors” Max had received scrapes, and cuts before and wasn’t too stressed about the burn.
Max said: “I grabbed a skillet wrong and my thumb touched the hot part, I could feel it burning as I moved it to the table but I didn’t want to drop it.
“After dinner, I cleaned up the burn, put a bandage on it and left it.
“Sadly, dinner was enough for the burn to get strep A.”
The business owner, from Franktown, said it was a hunting trip with friends that “turned into a bit of a nightmare.”
A few days after his injury, Max started to notice some terrifying symptoms.
His left leg became noticeably swollen, his toenails darkened and became purple, and he was overwhelmed by intense, agonising pain.
On the sixth day, he was rushed to the hospital and immediately diagnosed with sepsis – a life-threatening medical condition.
Sepsis can occur when the body’s immune system responds to an infection in an extreme and harmful way – even if it’s a seemingly small injury, like a frying pan burn.
In the hospital, Max’s eyes started to roll upwards and Doctors at AdventHealth Parker confirmed strep A bacteria and entered the burn, triggering sepsis.
“At this point, the burn on my thumb had become pretty ugly, it had turned black and looked like it was eating away at my thumb,” Max continued.
“The doctors were asking me lots of questions, but my eyes started rolling back in my head and I started talking nonsense.”
Due to the severity of his condition, he was placed in an induced coma for six days and moved to a better-equipped hospital.
His family were warned there was a chance he might not make it but to their relief on December 13 he woke up from his coma.
Max’s mother and his wife Megan were at the hospital to see him and were thrilled when he woke up.
He said: “My family was extremely happy, I could hear them cheering and then the nurses came in and started cleaning me up.”
Unfortunately, while in his coma the sepsis has continued to eat away at his feet and spread to his legs.
He said he remembers looking at his feet and to his horror, they were both completely black.
When someone’s limbs turn darker during sepsis, it can be because there has been a lack of oxygen in the area.
This can lead to tissue death and gangrene which, when severe, may require amputation.
Max went from camping with his friends to waking up in a hospital in Denver after a coma, only to be told both his legs needed to be removed.
The amputation took place on December 23, 2024, and took a total of three hours to complete.
Max added: “Initially when I woke up, I thought my legs were still there and then I came to realise that they weren’t.
“I felt down my leg and realised that my legs weren’t there, I asked the nurse and she confirmed that I had my legs amputated.
“She told me that my family was waiting for me and kept on reminding me of them which anchored me.”
The 40-year-old spent a 16 days in Sky Ridge Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation hospital recovering and being taught how to use a wheelchair – a device he would now depend on for the rest of his life.
He went to physical rehabilitation classes three times a day learnt crucial upper body exercises.
“Now I am in a wheelchair my shoulder and triceps are my lifeline,” he explained.
After enduring a long and harrowing journey, Max was finally able to leave on January 29, 2025, and is adapting to life as an amputee.
Since his story has been shared, Max has received an enormous amount of support and thousands of dollars have been raised on his behalf.
The GoFundMe is aimed to help with the long road to recovery and Max has shared his appreciation online to anyone who has donated.
On the site, he wrote: “I’ve been humbled and overjoyed at the contributions to my GoFundMe.
“You all truly are heroes in my journey to walk and hike again.
“I cannot begin to express how much it means to me.”
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What are the symptoms of sepsis?
SEPSIS is a life-threatening reaction to an infection that happens when your immune system overreacts and starts to damage your body’s own tissues and organs.
Symptoms of sepsis in an adult include:
- Acting confused, slurred speech or not making sense
- Blue, grey, pale or blotchy skin, lips or tongue – on brown or black skin, this may be easier to see on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet
- A rash that does not fade when you roll a glass over it, the same as meningitis
- Difficulty breathing, breathlessness or breathing very fast
Symptoms in a child include:
- Blue, grey, pale or blotchy skin, lips or tongue – on brown or black skin, this may be easier to see on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet
- A rash that does not fade when you roll a glass over it, the same as meningitis
- Difficulty breathing (you may notice grunting noises or their stomach sucking under their ribcage), breathlessness or breathing very fast
- A weak, high-pitched cry that’s not like their normal cry
- Not responding like they normally do, or not interested in feeding or normal activities
- Being sleepier than normal or having difficulty waking
They may not have all these symptoms.
If you think you or someone else has symptoms of sepsis, call 999 or go to A&E.
Source: NHS
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