I got a small cut on my hand – it almost killed me after the flesh-eating bacteria left a hole in my hand
Carpenter’s minor injury soon developed into strep A and cellulitis. His fingers turn purple and black from a flesh-eating bacterial infection
A carpenter was left with a hole in his hand and lost his ring finger after a small cut became infected.
Jamie Constable, an apprentice from Lancashire, was used to getting scraps on his hands as part of his job.
Normally, a 21-year-old would ignore them.
His own mother even requested medical attention in November 2022 after a hand saw fell on his hand and grazed his knee.
However, he ignored her wishes.
Jamie Constable, 21, (pictured right) usually ignored the cuts, but one day after a handsaw fell and cut his knee, the minor injury soon turned into a flesh-eating bacterial infection and left his fingers purple and black. Her ring finger was amputated to save her hand (pictured left).
But four days later Mr Constable’s sister, Catherine, found him vomiting and completely ‘passing out’.
Soon, his entire arm was inflamed and doubled in size, and pus began to ooze out.
Mr Constable was rushed to Bradford Royal Infirmary, where doctors confirmed he had cellulitis on his hand.
Deadly bacterial infections – caused by common bacteria that live in the skin and enter wounds – can kill tissue and lead to gangrene.
What is cellulitis?
Cellulitis is a skin infection that needs to be treated with antibiotics.
It can be fatal if not treated quickly.
Symptoms include hot, swollen and painful skin and sometimes blistered skin.
If it is not treated quickly, the infection can spread to other parts of the body, such as the blood, muscles and bones.
The NHS urges people to call 999 or go to A&E if anyone has the following symptoms:
a very high temperature, or you feel hot and shivery purple patches on your skin fast heart rate or rapid breathing, but this may be less obvious with brown or dark skin dizziness or fainting or restlessness, cold, clammy or pale skin Unresponsiveness or loss
He was taken for emergency surgery to clear the infection.
Mr Constable said: ‘If I hadn’t had the surgery then I would have died within hours from blood poisoning.
‘I didn’t really think anything was wrong when I noticed the cut, because it was so small, but now I was fighting for my life.’
Following the procedure, he was left with holes in his hands and fingers where ‘the infection had destroyed all the tissue’.
Mr Constable added: ‘To save part of my arm, they had to cut off my ring finger and rip the skin off my thigh to do a skin graft.
‘Feeling electric shocks through my hands from webbed hands and severed fingers.
‘It has completely turned my life upside down and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy – because of a small cut.’
As he took a turn for the worse, Mr Constable added: ‘I don’t really remember much, because I was completely out of it.
‘All I could think of was that I hoped they could sort it out, because I wanted to go back to my job – that was my main concern.
‘It became so badly infected that my fingers started to turn purple and black as the infection was cutting off blood flow.’
Mr Constable is adapting to a hand with a hole and an amputated finger.
Jamie Constable, 21, an apprentice carpenter from Lancashire used to scraping and cutting with his hands as part of his job.
He said: ‘Knowing I’ll go back to work one day gets me, because I love it so much.
‘I need a few more surgeries to reconstruct my hand, as I still have no tendons in my index finger – but time will get me there.
‘My advice to anyone is just to be patient, because it doesn’t take months to heal from this kind of trauma.
‘Give yourself time and be kind – and most importantly, be grateful for the gift of life.’