A children's footy coach has shared a horrifying photo of how sepsis stole his lower leg - awaking to discover what he had mistaken for a simple 'cold' had eaten away his foot. Joe Ford was struck down by sepsis in March 2019 after experiencing cold-like symptoms and stomach pain, which quickly developed into doctors warning he only had a ten percent chance of survival.
The 29-year-old was put into an induced coma for three and a half weeks and 'pumped full' of antibiotics to fight off the deadly infection that was attacking his major organs. When he woke up, not only was he completely paralysed but the skin on his nose, fingers, toes and the soles of his feet had turned black and started to die as a result of the sepsis.
Joe then spent six months in hospital having his wounds treated followed by two months in a rehabilitation centre regaining movement and function in his limbs, which are still affected to this day. While most areas gradually recovered, his right foot didn't improve and an operation to remove the necrotic tissue revealed the damage the sepsis had done, with barely any healthy tissue remaining of his foot.
The now 31-year-old, who manages a children's football coaching company, has now shared the shocking photo of his damaged foot before it was amputated to raise awareness of the effects of sepsis. Joe, from Bexley, Kent, said: "I was feeling a bit tired and groggy but nothing too out of the norm, I just thought that I was overworking or had a cold and didn't think anything of it.
"I woke up one morning and had stomach pains and felt a bit sick. The pain didn't go away so I went to the hospital and told the lady at the desk my symptoms but then I collapsed. The next thing I remember was waking up in a hospital bed with loads of people around me telling me to stay calm. I was in and out of consciousness.
"They put me in an induced coma and pumped lots of antibiotics into me to save my life because the sepsis was attacking all of my major organs. Doctors told my parents I had a ten percent chance of surviving and they should start organising my funeral because they really didn't think I was going to make it through.
"When I woke up I was quite confused and panicky and couldn't even ask what happened because I was paralysed and couldn't speak. I was black and blue, my face was swollen and all the tips of my body - my nose, fingers, toes and the bottom of both feet - they all went black and necrotic.
"The tissue viability nurses were treating my feet - I had to have them redressed every day and they were putting honey and stuff on them to make them better. About a week after I'd woken up my right foot wasn't getting any better so they did an operation to take away all of the dead skin to see what was left and if there was anything they could do.
"When I woke up [from the operation] a nurse was dressing my foot and I asked her to take a picture of it - it was quite shocking and horrible to see."
Both doctors and Joe remain in the dark about what caused his sepsis to this day, since they were unable to find any cuts on his body that may have invited an infection and triggered the immune response. After collapsing in the emergency room in Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup, Kent, the football coach was blue-lighted to Princess Royal University Hospital in Farnborough, Kent, where he was put in an induced coma.
Two and a half weeks later, once doctors thought he was strong enough to survive being transported, he was moved to the ICU in King's College Hospital in Lambeth, London, where he spent another week in a coma. When he finally woke, Joe was completely paralysed and unable to talk due to his body being dormant for so long and doctors were forced to make an incision into his neck and fit a tube to keep him breathing.
Over the next six months he spent recovering in hospital he gradually regained movement - including the ability to talk after three weeks - and most of his wounds improved. But an operation to remove the dead tissue on his feet in June that year revealed that his right foot was 'unsalvageable' and he ended up having it amputated the following month.
He also had to have his left foot 'completely reconstructed' and says he has been left with a scar from doctors removing dead skin from his nose as well. Joe said: "After that [operation] they told me that the foot was unsalvageable.
"They said they could take a skin graft from another area of my body and put it on the foot but it wouldn't be a foot that you could walk on and I would forever be having skin problems with it. It would basically just be a dead limb and I wouldn't have any quality of life with it. They gave me that option or the option to amputate.
"I was in absolute pieces thinking 'am I going to walk again, am I going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life, what will my life be like?' I was devastated. My passion in life is coaching children, coaching football and that was my main concern, thinking am I going to be able to do that again?"
After his amputation, the children's football coach was transferred to Lambeth Community Care Centre, in September 2019, where he was fitted with a prosthetic leg and learnt to walk again.
He also battled to regain movement and function in his arms and hands but admits that he still doesn't have the same use of his limbs as he used to, estimating he has 75 percent function in his hands to this day. Joe exceeded doctors' expectations and walked out of the rehabilitation centre a month early - after just two months, in October - and continues to have therapy and massages to strengthen his hands a couple of times a month.
Joe said: "With being in a coma for three and a half weeks it's amazing how quickly your body and nerves start to die. I had to really slowly build my body up again. Gradually I could start to move my head to nod and shake my head at things but it was a couple of weeks before I could even move my arms a bit so it was really frustrating.
"It's easy to sit there and feel sorry for yourself and I definitely had days like that - the nurses had to help me with going to the toilet and showering which isn't nice for anyone. Slowly they teach you and you get stronger every day and have a chance of getting back into a normal routine."
After his eight-month-long battle as an in-patient, Joe was hit with the devastating news that his dad and fellow football coach - Martin Ford - had cancer and he passed away just months later, in May 2020. But the devoted son has been able to keep his beloved dad's legacy, as well as his own 'passion', alive by merging his football coaching business - JMF Allstars - with another company.
This has meant that his business, teaching almost 500 children a week, has been able to continue despite the physical obstacles he now faces and having to take a step back from coaching directly. Joe now hopes to raise awareness about sepsis and to encourage people to not ignore the symptoms if they feel unwell.
Joe said: "My passion in life is coaching children, coaching football and that was my main concern, getting back there. I had no idea what sepsis was. I don't think a lot of people know about it, it's not really talked about a lot but it's a deadly, silent killer.
"One of the reasons I've shared [the photo of my foot] is because I don't think people realise what sepsis does. It's been a long road and there's still a long way to go but I'm getting there."
