A man is lucky to be alive after he stepped on a nut and suffered an infection so serious his leg had to be amputated.
Andrew Trigg, 40, stepped on the gumnut at his home in New Lambton Heights, Newcastle, in the Hunter region of New South Wales, on May 12.
A seed became lodged under the skin of his right foot and festered for the next month, becoming so bad that he could no longer move or eat.
Mr Trigg was eventually taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with sepsis.
Surgeons first amputated his toes, but later discovered that the infection had spread. They therefore had to amputate the bottom of his leg.
The 40-year-old was shocked by how a seemingly innocent moment could lead to a life-threatening illness, but was determined to overcome the adversity.
“This isn’t going to define me. It will change me, but not define me,” he said.
Mr. Trigg said he didn’t think anything of the wound immediately after stepping on the gumnut.
Andrew Trigg, 40, (pictured) stepped on a gumnut in May, which caused a seed to lodge under the skin of his right foot. It became infected, leading to the amputation of his lower leg
Mr Trigg took antibiotics just weeks after going off the gum as the infection seemed to spread and started to smell (seen: his right foot before being taken to hospital)
The semen had caused an ulcer and after he and his wife Kylie cleaned and dressed it every day, his foot seemed fine.
But a month later, Mr Trigg fell at home, his wound taking the brunt of his injuries.
Within a few days he had a fairly large bruise and an odor coming from his foot.
“That’s when I knew I needed antibiotics,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
After receiving a script from a doctor online because he ‘couldn’t move’, he started the five-day treatment, but noticed the inflammation starting to spread to his leg.
Mr Trigg said he was feeling unwell and could only keep down a slice of toast, some grapes and ‘litres’ of water for the next week.
His wife insisted she take him to John Hunter Hospital when his pain worsened.
After some initial tests, a nurse told him he had diabetes – a condition Mr Trigg had no idea he was living with.
The nurse explained that diabetes can make infections even more problematic.
Mr Trigg said his wife of 14 years, Kylie, (pictured with their dogs) saved his life by getting him to hospital
The 40-year-old told Daily Mail Australia he felt overwhelmed and grateful for the support he received from family and friends
After a day of taking blood samples and being observed by doctors, the 40-year-old was told by specialists that his big toe needed to be removed the next day because he had sepsis.
Sepsis is a person’s body’s life-threatening response to an infection and begins to attack tissues and organs.
They told me that the hope was to remove it [the big toe] “They would use the remaining skin to wrap the rest of the foot and hopefully preserve it,” Mr Trigg said.
But later that night, specialists gave Mr Trigg a shocking blow. They told him there was ‘no good tissue in the area’ and that they would have to ‘remove a few more toes’. They concluded that his foot ‘didn’t look right’.
Despite the life-changing operations, Mr Trigg had not lost his sense of humour. He said: ‘They took the two toes at the end and left the two in the middle. It was like wearing a pointy heel.’
Shortly after the operation, doctors received further bad news from Mr Trigg and his wife.
Mr Trigg (pictured with his wife Kylie) said he wants people to make sure they go to the doctor if something doesn’t feel right. He said men tend to turn things down and urged all Australians not to delay seeking medical help
“They said that although the amputation of my toes was successful, the infection had spread to my foot and there was no good tissue left,” he said.
‘The doctors said I could keep cutting off the foot piece by piece, but the infection would continue to spread. Or I could just leave him there and die.
‘The last option was to have my lower leg amputated below my knee to give myself the best chance.
“I had no problem with the amputation because the only other option is death.”
Despite the ordeal Mr Trigg endured, which included undergoing further surgery two days later to reshape his limb, he wants to make it clear to people, particularly men, that they should not delay treatment.
‘Don’t be too proud to seek help. “As soon as you see anything different – a spot, a cut, a bump – see a doctor straight away,” he said.
Mr Trigg has just turned 40 and has set himself the goal of working hard enough to see his wife perform in a musical at the end of July (pictured with wife Kylie on his 40th birthday)
‘Don’t say to yourself, ‘It will work out, it will work out.’ You can’t take the risk.’
“The doctors told me that if I had waited a few more days, I could have been dead or at least in intensive care, fighting for my life.”
The salary packaging consultant, whose doctors say he is ‘still not out of the woods’ and has ‘a long way to go’, has now used up the last of his leave and is not receiving any pay.
His wife of 14 years, who works in elderly care and is an on-call worker, is not entitled to leave. She now works half days so that she can be with her husband every day.
‘I will have to stay in hospital for at least a few months for rehabilitation. The doctors told me it will take months to be able to jump, twist and turn, just like a prosthetic,” he said.
The 40-year-old said he will be in a wheelchair for months and the couple’s rental home will need some adjustments.
a GaFundMe was founded by good friend Kerrie Stephens to help the couple with the couple’s regular expenses, such as rent, medical bills and adjustments to their car and suitable accommodation.