'I thought I had a cold, weeks later they amputated both my legs'

In March of this year, when Mathew Hicks, from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, had a fever, he took a paracetamol, believing it to be a simple cold. However, just two weeks later, he had both legs amputated after being diagnosed with sepsis, Strep A and pneumonia.

What started out as a cold quickly got worse, and when his wife Rachael, 36, finally called an ambulance who rushed him to hospital, Matthew was placed in a medically-induced coma. When he woke up two weeks later, the doctors said the blood was no longer reaching his feet and they needed to amputate both legs below the knee. “I didn’t really understand what was going on when I heard about my amputation because I hadn’t seen my feet. I simply accepted what the doctor told me, but when I finally saw the gray color they had turned, I was completely shocked. So I was desperate to get them removed,” he told the Daily Record.

Matthew’s daughter Evie, 3, couldn’t see her dad for seven weeks, which Rachael said was “the hardest thing ever”. “He was taken straight to the ICU and I was told he was seriously ill. Mathew is generally fit and healthy. He only complained of a bad cold and a high fever, but the paracetamol was helping so we both thought he was fine. I just couldn’t believe how serious it was. Doctors put him in a coma. I was told there was no improvement and that as a last resort they would use a machine called ECMO to help keep him alive,” she recalls.

Wife is surprised at how he is handling the ordeal – Photo: Playback/Mirror

ECMO is a form of life support that provides cardiac and respiratory support by oxygenating blood outside the body. The wife said the doctor was “painfully honest” and told the family that if the machine didn’t help stabilize Mathew’s organs, there were no more options. “We sat there in silence and disbelief. We were so relieved when we heard that Matthew had responded, but then we got more bad news about the amputation. Not for a minute did I think things would turn out like this. Mathew has been really strong and amazing. His attitude has been very positive. His main focus is our daughter, Evie. She gives you the strength to get through it,” she said.

“Evie is a daddy’s girl. Now she calls him a ‘superhero,’” she added. Mathew was released from the hospital on Wednesday (14) after twelve weeks of recovery. He has since developed a heart condition as a result of severe sepsis, which has caused his heart to function at just 34% of its original function. Doctors say that only time will show the consequences of this deficit. The family said they know they will have a tough road ahead as Mathew adjusts to a new lifestyle, but they are hopeful for the future.

Mathew and his wife, on their wedding day — Photo: Reproduction/Mirror

“I feel relieved to finally be home after all this time. My outlook on life has definitely changed. Before my illness, I worked as much as possible, but now I realize that work is not everything and I intend to spend more time enjoying life and with my family,” she said. A fundraiser was set up to help the family make the home more affordable for Mathew.

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