IT was not the diagnosis Martin Webb was expecting.

The father-of-four from Didcot was in pain, but had no idea he had contracted a rare flesh-eating disease.

By the time Mr Webb reached hospital, his liver had started to fail and medics told him he had hours left to live.

The 45-year-old had become one of only 500 people in the UK each year to contract necrotising fasciitis, a bacteria that eats away at the skin.

But, thanks to the quick-thinking team at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital, Mr Webb was saved.

He said: “It all started when I was very ill, and was vomiting.

“It felt as if I had something stuck in my chest.

At the same time I bumped my leg. The pain in the leg was so bad I thought I had broken it.”

Mr Webb eventually could not take any more and went to hospital.

But, instead of a broken leg, doctors diagnosed the disease and spotted it had spread to his liver and kidneys.

They told him time was running out and surgeons cut out chunks of infected flesh.

Before the operation, Mr Webb even signed a consent form which allowed them to remove his leg if all else failed.

Even on the operating table he suffered a heart attack and massive internal bleeding as surgeons fought to save his life.

Three weeks later, the former mechanic has returned home to wife Zoe and their two sons and two daughters to recover and express his gratitude to the hospital staff.

Mr Webb said: “They called me the ‘man with nine lives’ when I was there. The nurses, surgeons, everyone – they were absolutely brilliant.

“My family are all so happy I am home and recovering. My children were very tearful and upset during the whole thing.

“It was very hard for everyone to think about how ill I was.

“Now, when my children leave the house, they turn around and double-check to make sure I am still there and give me an extra little wave and a smile.

“I truly can’t thank everyone at the JR enough.”

The hospital managed to rebuild his leg with muscle and tissue from his back and skin from the upper thigh.

Doctors said the bacteria had worked its way into his leg through a small cut.

  • Necrotising fasciitis kills 125 people in the UK every year, while another 125 will have limbs amputated.

ecrotiSing fasciitis usually develops at the spot of a recent injury, such as a cut in the skin, an ulcer or a sore.

Symptoms include severe pain at the site of the injury, which is out of proportion to the severity of the injury.

During the infection the skin around the injury turns red and swells It will then turn a bluish purple colour. Blisters form, then burst and release foul-smelling pus.