A LANDSCAPE gardener who was left 30 minutes from death by a flesh eating bug is planning a fundraiser for the hospital which saved his life.

Nicholas Macartney, 36, had a kidney transplant in May 2008 and had just returned to work when a piece of manure fell into his boot last autumn.

His foot had a small open wound and, within 48 hours, he was in the John Radcliffe Hospital fighting for his life.

Mr Macartney, of Winter Gardens Way, Banbury, had the flesh-eating bug necrotising fasciitis.

He said: “I was told if they didn’t operate on me now I would be dead within half an hour.

“That was very scary. I was in intensive care and went back to theatre about five times.

“I was on a life-support machine having dialysis when unconscious.”

Muscle and skin was removed from his right leg in an effort to stop the infection, and skin had to be grafted from his left leg on to the affected limb.

He said: “It was like an agonising pain that would not go away, and no amount of painkillers would knock it. You cannot understand how a microscopic amount of dirt can carry so much harmful bacteria.”

Mr Macartney, who trained at Waterperry Gardens, Wheatley, and worked across the county, was more vulnerable to the bug because his immune system was suppressed by the anti-rejection drugs he took following the transplant.

His transplanted kidney was not permanently damaged by the infection and Mr Macartney is on the road to recovery, although he still cannot work.

Mr Macartney said the journey from his diagnosis of kidney failure to recovery has been a long and bumpy one.

He said: “I was basically having a normal life and started to experience really bad cramps, particularly in my legs.

“I also had a metallic taste in my mouth and often felt very tired and nauseous.”

His GP gave him a blood test the following day and he was told to go to a hospital in Sussex, where he lived, where he was told his kidneys were failing.

He initially tried home dialysis but developed a series of infections, and was transferred to the Churchill Hospital, Oxford, where he had dialysis three times a week.

It is hoped the new kidney will last 10 to 20 years.

Mr Macartney and his mother and stepfather are planning a fundraiser at Keble College, Oxford, in aid of Oxford Transplant Foundation, on Friday, April 16. The foundation wants to build a transplant centre at the John Radcliffe Hospital.

Tickets cost £50 per person, which includes a four-course meal with drinks and a performance from Mr Macartney’s group the Five Ways Barber Shop Harmony Chorus.

To book, call Mrs Dixon on 01295 788204 or email susanadixon@btinternet.com

  • NECROTISING fasciitis is a rare infection of the deeper layers of skin, and people are more susceptible to the condition if their immune system has been compromised.

The flesh-eating bug begins with a minor injury, but the pain is excruciating. The victim will get a high fever, the infected area may swell, and an unusual redness can develop around the area of injury, which rapidly moves away from the initial site.

Within 24 hours, the redness changes to a blue colour and blisters form. The pain at this point is severe. By day four, it is likely gangrene will set in.

Surgeons battle the condition by cutting away the rotten flesh.

If the disease is not treated, the body can go into systemic shock, resulting in multiple organ failure and possibly death.